A Vengeful Darkness
by beatlesfan931
Summary: Goemon and his friends are in a race against time to search Japan for the weapons to defeat their most fearsome foe yet. NOTICE: Final version complete!
1. A Delayed Beginning

Author's notes: This would probably be a good time to mention that "Mystical Ninja" and related characters are copyright of Konami. All characters that are not owned by Konami are owned by me.

One major convention that I use that you should be aware of is that spoken words are in plain text, while thoughts, sound effects, and songs heard in the background are always in _italics_. This should clear up any confusion.

Hope you enjoy the story, and please give me feedback of any kind. It would be greatly appreciated, as it is the best way for me to improve my writing.

---

The storm clouds gathering around Mt. Fuji continued to grow darker and more numerous. This was no ordinary storm. The clouds had moved too fast and focused on too exact of a point for it to be more than just mere coincidence. There was something odd, something...unnatural about this assembly. And when something comes along that's both odd and unnatural, there's only one group of people fit to investigate.

Four ninjas walked through the streets of Oedo Town, which lay at the foot of Mt. Fuji. They stopped to survey the situation, and noticed people watching from their homes and passersby stopping whatever they were doing to stare at them. The civilians all whispered among themselves and pointed at these four, who apparently had quite a reputation throughout the town.

Goemon, the first member of this group and the implied leader, was a man with blue hair that was spiked in every direction. He was dressed mostly in red. His mouth went from one end of his face to the other and was situated between two rosy cheeks that almost made him look like a clown. However, anybody who called him one would find himself becoming closely acquainted to the metallic tobacco pipe he held in his right hand.

Next to Goemon was Ebisumaru, a short, portly fellow in blue. He held a paper fan in one hand and was slowly tapping the wide end in the other hand. He was the most multitalented of the group in terms of fighting, which was evidenced by the other weapons he had brought with him: a mallet, a wooden spoon, and a dancer's ribbon. An unusual arsenal, to be sure, but they had all served him well in the past.

Third in line was Sasuke, who was significantly smaller in size than the others and had metallic spheres for hands. He was a robot created by the Wise Man of Iga, to whom he was fiercely loyal. Sasuke was a force to be reckoned with, especially when his friends were in danger. He could swing the kunai in his hands with lightning speed and had a seemingly endless supply of firecracker bombs at his disposal. Even though the little guy was made of gears and wires, he surprised his companions everyday with just how much he seemed like a normal human being.

Last, but not least, was Yae, the only female of the group. She was an agent for the SSIN, an organization that investigates occurrences of both usual and unusual natures. A katana was sheathed at her side and a bazooka, a rarity in Feudal Japan, was slung behind her back. She had light green eyes and hair to match which extended down to her knees and was tied at the end with a white band. She threw some stray hairs that had partially covered her eye over her shoulder before turning to Goemon.

"All right guys," he said in a low voice. "It's time to do what we do best. I hope you guys haven't gotten too rusty over the last couple of years, cause it's time to-"

"Goemon! Goemon, don't go yet." A voice as sweet as honey had interrupted Goemon in the middle of his speech to his fellow ninjas. He was thoroughly upset by this, as he had been thinking of what to say when such an opportunity came for quite a long time. Goemon turned, his look of annoyance disappearing almost instantly as he realized who had addressed him.

Goemon's girlfriend, Omitsu, was standing behind him with a warm smile on her face. Most of the people on the streets now stared at Omitsu, who was regarded as the most beautiful woman in Oedo Town. All of the men were kicking themselves for being too slow in confessing their "undying love" for her, and many of the women were wishing they could get this kind of attention from every man they met. Omitsu was holding several rice balls in her hand and offering them to Goemon. Ebisumaru licked his lips greedily when he saw them.

"I made these for you guys so you'll have something to eat on your journey," said Omitsu.

"Umm...thanks, but, uhh..." Goemon stammered from both embarrassment and impatience. "You know we just ate, and, umm..." He could see Omitsu was starting to get upset. "We probably won't be gone for too long, so just hold onto them for us, and--"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ebisumaru leaned in between Goemon and Omitsu. "I'll take them," he interjected cheerily. Before anybody could say anything, Ebisumaru snatched the rice balls from Omitsu and began scarfing one down. Goemon grabbed the remaining rice balls out of his friend's hand and slapped the back of his head, causing Ebisumaru to cough violently and expel several grains from his mouth.

"Where are your manners, Ebisumaru?!" Goemon scolded. He turned to Omitsu. "Well I guess we'd better take them now, if it'll make you happy. I'm sorry for making a big scene out of it, we really do appreciate all the help you give us. I just really need to get going to Mt. Fuji." He was now so anxious to leave, he was starting to shake.

Sasuke and Yae watched this whole ordeal from a short distance away. Yae shook her head and a small grin formed on her face. "Hey, guys. If you're done arguing over rice balls, I think we should head out."

"Yeah, definitely," Goemon said with a huge sigh of relief. "All right, let's move out!" They began walking in the direction of Mt. Fuji, but hadn't gotten very far when they were interrupted again.

"Goemon! Aren't you forgetting something?" Omitsu called after them.

Goemon had to restrain himself to keep from screaming, but a small, inhuman yelp still managed to escape. He slowly turned his head after putting a forced smile on his face. "What did I forget, Omitsu?" he asked in the sweetest tone he could muster, though nobody present thought it was very sweet at all.

"Give me a kiss, Goemon," Omitsu said. Yae and Ebisumaru couldn't help but laugh at Goemon, whose face was now turning red as a tomato. Sasuke snickered and tried his best to hide his smile and contain his laughter.

"Go on lover boy," Ebisumaru teased after his first fit of hysterics. "Give the fair lady a kiss so we can be on our way to complete our valiant mission." Goemon sneered at his companion before walking to Omitsu and pecking her lightly on the lips.

Omitsu, now finally looking satisfied, wished them luck on their trip and waved as she watched them run off. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae were still chuckling from the whole incident, which contrasted sharply with Goemon's guttural groans. They all knew Goemon loved Omitsu very much, but right now it seemed like his love of adventure was overpowering it.

Nobody spoke until they reached the foot of the mountain. It was Sasuke who broke the silence. "Mr. Goemon, sir. You said you had a great speech prepared for us before we went to investigate Mt. Fuji."

"Yeah, what about it?" Goemon asked grumpily.

"Well, I'd like to hear it."

"You already heard most of it before Omitsu interrupted me. There wasn't much more to it after that."

Ebisumaru looked shocked. "THAT was your 'amazing, inspirational speech'?! That's a bigger rip-off than an order of overpriced, disgusting dumplings."


	2. Ascending Mt Fuji

The climb up Mt. Fuji was relatively easy at first, thanks to a series of wooden platforms and tunnels that had been built leading around and through the mountain, respectively. But even when they had reached the highest platform, they had found nothing unusual in or around the mountain.

"Damn it!" Goemon yelled. "We must have missed something."

Yae looked up the mountain. They were nowhere near the top. "Or maybe we just didn't search long enough" she said. A large opening carved into the side of the mountain about 50 feet above them caught her eye. There was a faint multicolored glow emanating from it that immediately grabbed her attention and tempted her curiosity. "Do you think there's any way we can get up there?"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning appeared from one of the black clouds and struck the ground in front of the cave Yae was looking at. It caused a large piece to crumble off which forced Sasuke and Goemon to hop out of the way to keep from being flattened by it.

"Well, I guess that's as good a sign as any that that's where we should be headed," Goemon said. "The question is, how do we get up there?"

Sasuke was looking up at the mountain thoughtfully. He noticed that there were several small rock formations jutting out of the sides of the mountain, and one of them was connected to this newly discovered area. "Maybe," he said, "I could use my jet pack to get us up there..."

It didn't take long after this initial thought for a plan to be formulated. Sasuke would use his jet pack to move between the rock formations and throw down some rope for his allies to climb up. After this plan of action was devised, there were some whirring sounds as Sasuke's back opened up and what looked like a small backpack came out. Goemon, who had brought some rope in case the wooden platforms had deteriorated beyond use through years of atrophy, handed the coil to Sasuke, who took it and let out a loud scream as he rocketed up to the first rock platform.

Things weren't going as smoothly as originally planned. Goemon and Yae were able to climb the rope Sasuke had lowered for them with relative ease, but the larger Ebisumaru was having some difficulty. "Who knew climbing a mountain would be so hard?" he complained. It took him about twice as long as Goemon and Yae combined to climb between two platforms.

As if Ebisumaru's sluggishness wasn't enough, something strange happened as Sasuke soared to the last rock. He was in the middle of his flight when the entire area became nearly pitch black, despite the fact that it was still the middle of the day. This sudden darkness caused a small panic amongst Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae and sent ominous chills down their spines. A small crashing sound and a grunt came from Sasuke's direction.

The darkness lasted for about three seconds, and when light came back everyone waiting on the rock below gasped as they looked up. Sasuke had missed his target and was precariously perched on the edge of the platform. Cogs were strewn all over the ground around the clockwork ninja. His jet pack had apparently been damaged, as sparks intermittently shot out of his back. If he fell, nobody would be able to catch him, and there would be nothing to stop him between here and the ground at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Sasuke waved his arms wildly to try and regain his balance, but instead lost it and fell backwards. Goemon quickly reached for a pipe on his belt that looked similar to the family heirloom he used as his primary weapon, but when he swung this one forward a long chain caused the head of the pipe to extend just within reach of the plummeting Sasuke. The clockwork ninja grabbed it just in time and was reeled back in to safety. Goemon took the rope and formed a hole at one end. "I guess we'll do this the old fashioned way," he said as he swung the rope around his head and threw the looped end onto the rock Sasuke had hit.

After several more minutes, they finally reached their destination. As they inched along the rock face leading to the site of the lightning strike, they heard a familiar voice. "They may not look like much, my master, but they are a force to be reckoned with..." Goemon grinned slyly. He had discovered just what he was hoping to find. The headache of searching and the anxiety of waiting would finally come to an end.

Goemon was the first to step onto an area of sure footing. "Aha!" he shouted. "We've found you at last, Bismaru!"


	3. Three Years Earlier, Part 1

Bismaru turned to face this intruder. The cross dresser in a nun's habit looked almost exactly like Ebisumaru: same beady eyes, same large nose, same body and face shape. Despite these similarities, Ebisumaru would always deny any relation to him, claiming that he himself was a much more attractive person as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The cave contained some sort of wooden altar at the center which was surrounded by four tall, slender rocks shaped like melting candles. Each of these "candles" had a differently colored flame floating above it: red, yellow, blue, and green. Each of the flames flickered in Goemon's direction for a moment as he suddenly appeared. Despite their beauty as they rested on their stone wicks, something about the flames made Goemon feel uneasy.

Bismaru spoke in a nasally voice which, like most of his features, was very similar to Ebisumaru's. "So, you've finally arrived. Well done. You must be quite the sleuth to find me after only three years of searching. Oh, ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"

Goemon shuddered. That laugh was enough to drive anybody insane. As Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae joined him at his side, the events of the past three years flashed through Goemon's mind.

---

"No! That switch is--"

But it was too late. The baby girl in Ebisumaru's arms, whom he had introduced as Mao mere seconds earlier, reached forward and pulled a lever on a noisy contraption that looked like a giant cooking pot.

"Self destruct," said the same voice, which belonged to an elderly gentlemen with a long white beard. A loud siren sounded as a red light on the machine flashed rapidly. "Great, now you've done it! Everybody follow me. Quickly, now!"

Yae noticed Bismaru smiling and waving as he slowly ascended towards an open window. "But Bismaru's getting away!" she screamed over the sound of the alarm.

"We can worry about that later! This place is gonna blow sky high any second now, so hurry up if you want to be in one piece at the end of the day." He quickly scurried towards the next room.

"But Wise Man, the exit's that way!" shouted Goemon, pointing in the opposite direction.

"I know that, but we're not going through there. We might not be able to escape the blast quickly enough. Now help me get this open, will you?"

The Wise Man pointed to a wooden trapdoor built into the floor of the house. Goemon lifted the door and saw a ladder leading into the ground below. "Everybody climb down!" said both the Wise Man and Goemon at the same time.

Yae and Sasuke ran over and climbed down the ladder as fast as they could. Ebisumaru came next, holding a crying Mao in his hands. He slowly used his free hand to climb down. "Alright Wise Man, you're next," Goemon said quickly.

The Wise Man went down three or four rungs before stopping. "Wait, my magazines!" he shouted as he started to climb back up.

Goemon placed a stern foot on the Wise Man's shoulder. "Oh no you don't! You're not risking your life for that dirty obsession," he said through clenched teeth. The Wise Man fought with every ounce of desperation in his body, but Goemon managed to situate himself on the ladder above the Wise Man and closed the trap door behind him. The Wise Man grumbled profanely as the two men descended together.

The beeps from the machine grew louder and sped up until it became one long, earsplitting sound. Then there was a moment of silence before a large explosion and a violent earthquake, causing the Wise Man to fall a full five feet to the floor below. Goemon also fell off the ladder, but the impact of his landing was softened slightly by the Wise Man. They both groaned loudly as they got to their feet.

They were in a spacious underground tunnel. Dim lanterns hung above their heads and were separated by several feet of twine. The tunnel seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in either direction. Everybody was quietly observing this fascinating area, except for Ebisumaru, who was slowly rocking his daughter in his arms and patting her gently on the back. "Shh, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry..." he whispered to her. The explosion had caused the baby to scream and cry louder than ever, and she showed no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

"What is this place, Wise Man?" Goemon asked after a minute of rubbing his sore neck and back.

"Since my house was destroyed so many times in the past, I figured it would inevitably happen again." Sasuke had helped his creator get to his feet. The Wise Man rubbed his hunched back before continuing. "So, I had some of my robots build a series of tunnels for me in case I needed to escape quickly and using the front door wasn't an option. As you can see, they did a fine job." Despite falling flat on his back minutes earlier, this last statement seemed to give him just enough pride to stand up relatively straight for a few seconds before crouching over once more. "There should be another ladder that leads aboveground not too far from here."

They walked a short distance before seeing a large sign next to a dusty ladder. The sign read, in large black letters, "Outside", with an arrow pointing up the nearby ladder Below that was another message: "House entrance 1". A large arrow beneath this second set of words pointed to the place where they had first arrived in the tunnel. "Strange," Sasuke said. "Wise Man, I don't remember any of the robots putting that up. And it's in your handwriting. Have you been coming down here on your own?"

The Wise Man's eyes grew one second and shrunk back to their normal sizes the next. "Haha, don't be ridiculous, Sasuke, my boy. Umm...I wrote that sign to, uh, to help me get my bearings in case I had to come down here, uh, in case of emergency. Yeah, that's it. Going senile and everything, it's hard to judge distance and direction and such." He laughed nervously before quickly beginning his ascent up the ladder. Sasuke followed his master like a well trained dog.

Yae raised an eyebrow at this unusual explanation before turning to Ebisumaru and Mao. Mao's excruciating bawling had been reduced to strained whimpering by now, causing Ebisumaru to breathe a huge sigh of relief. "I still can't believe how much she looks like you. How did she get here anyway?" Yae asked.

Ebisumaru shook his head. "I really don't know. I'll have to talk to the wife about that. She's a handful, this one. But what a wonderful surprise for the hero who single-handedly stopped the great Dochuki in his quest for world domination!" He rubbed his nose playfully against Mao's, which was already much too big for her small size.

"I can't believe you've been a father all this time," Goemon said as he began his climb. "Come to think of it, I didn't even know you where married. Why were you flirting with so many girls on all our adventures?"

"What the missus doesn't know won't hurt her, heh heh heh." Yae frowned at Ebisumaru before following Goemon.

Meanwhile, the Wise Man was on his knees in front of what had been his house minutes before. His face was buried in his hands as he mourned for "the robots, the manuscripts, but especially the magazines. Oh, the magazines!" Sasuke was patting him on the back while two 50-foot tall robots, Goemon Impact and Miss Impact, surveyed the wreckage and the whining old man. Broad smiles were permanently formed on their faces, though if Impact's personality chips had been developed as much as Sasuke's he would have been just as upset as the Wise Man. His home had once again been destroyed, and he would once again have to help rebuild it. As expected, there was no sign of Bismaru anywhere.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," said Goemon. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day. We can search for Bismaru tomorrow. Plus, I want to check on Omitsu."

Ebisumaru batted his eyelashes and giggled to imitate the beautiful waitress. If it hadn't been for the baby in his arms, Goemon would have given him a proper rebuke with his pipe.

After dropping Mao off at Ebisumaru's home, they all went as a group to Akindo Teahouse. The Wise Man continued to weep at the loss of his rarest magazines. Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae grew annoyed rather quickly, while Sasuke, who was still convinced the Wise Man was talking about car magazines, continued to offer his condolences.

Upon entering the teahouse, the group was greeted with a loud squeal. Goemon turned towards the sound just in time to see a blur run up to and embrace him. "Oh, Goemon! I'm so glad you're back! And Ebisumaru, you're looking well! Yae, gorgeous as always! Sasuke, always good to see you!" Omitsu had given an enthusiastic hug to each person as she mentioned them. The Wise Man was next. Omitsu reached her hands out for a moment before retracting them and bowing instead. "Wise Man, I'm honored you could join us this evening. Right this way, please. Free meals for the heroes of Japan!"

The entire restaurant had stopped completely at Omitsu's initial scream. Although the kitchen had resumed its normal activity after seeing who had arrived, the customers continued to stare blankly at these new arrivals. The "heroes of Japan" comment had summoned mild applause from some, while the rest complained that they gladly would have saved Japan if it meant getting a free meal here. Everybody returned to their food and their normal conversations, though some would look at them as they sat at their table situated in the middle of the teahouse. Goemon made his usual comment about how these people never appreciated how much they did for them, but seemed to become content after Omitsu brought him and his friends two large plates of piping hot dumplings.

It didn't take long for them to finish these two platters of food. The events of the past few days had driven Goemon and Ebisumaru to become ravenous animals, while Sasuke and Yae showed a great deal more control in their eating habits. Finding and defeating the demon Dochuki, only to be unsure of whether they had really stopped him for good, coupled with accidentally reviving Bismaru again and narrowly escaping from the Wise Man's home exhausted all four of them. The Wise Man, meanwhile, nibbled at a single dumpling, still complaining that he may never be able to look upon his favorite beauties ever again.

After another plate of dumplings, several bowls of soup, rice, noodles, and green tea, most of the group was finally stuffed. The Wise Man had eaten nothing more than that single dumpling and half a bowl of rice, while Ebisumaru was still reading over the menu. It was getting late. The teahouse had already closed for the evening, and Goemon and his friends were the only customers left. Omitsu was cleaning tables and sweeping the floor, Ebisumaru was mumbling and licking his lips as he scrutinized the descriptions of every item on the menu, Yae was talking to Sasuke about her work, and the Wise Man was hanging his head and remaining gloomily silent. Goemon, who had always had feelings for Omitsu, finally saw the perfect opportunity to get closer to her. If Ebisumaru could be such a successful ladies man, why couldn't he?

"Hey, Ebisumaru. Why don't you head on home? I mean, your wife must be worried about you, since you've been gone for so long and everything."

Ebisumaru looked up from reviewing the menu. "No, it's fine. I saw her on the way here, remember? Anyway, I'm still hungry."

"I'm sure there's plenty of food at your house," Goemon said sternly. "Anyway, the restaurant's closed. Don't force poor Omitsu to make you another meal."

Ebisumaru grumbled as he got up and said his goodbyes. Goemon turned to Sasuke next. "Sasuke, why don't you take the Wise Man to an inn? The old guy must be exhausted from all this craziness."

"What are you suggesting, that I can't handle a little bit of 'craziness'? And how dare you call me 'old guy'?! That's 'Wise Man' to you, you ungrateful--!" This was the first time since they started eating that the Wise Man had said something that was both audible and a complete sentence.

Sasuke managed to calm him down before bidding farewell to Goemon and Yae and leading the furious Wise Man outside. Goemon couldn't believe how difficult it was to get rid of his friends. "Yae..." he began.

Yae put her hand up to silence Goemon. "It's okay, I understand. I'll leave you two alone." She got up and put her hand on Goemon's shoulder. "Good luck, Goemon." She left, and Goemon breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was finally alone with Omitsu, who was clearing another table and humming to herself.

He watched her "_Okay, first I should, umm...oh, how about..._" Goemon got up from his seat and walked towards the busy waitress. "Let me help you with that, Omitsu."

Omitsu was reluctant to let Goemon help her at first, but after he insisted she finally gave in. At the very least, she was happy to have some company.

As time wore on and the duo came closer to finishing the various jobs around the restaurant, Goemon's heart beat faster and faster. He had had many opportunities similar to this one, but had never had the courage to share his true feelings for Omitsu. "_Okay, this is it. Just come right out and say it._" They were finishing up the last of the dishes when Goemon finally took a deep breath and spoke up. "Umm...Omitsu? Are you, I mean, uhh, do you have any plans tonight?"

Omitsu looked up from a dish with a particularly stubborn stain. "Why, no Goemon. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to..." Goemon was getting frustrated with himself. He could stand up to and overcome the greatest threats Japan had ever seen, including vicious tyrants, frightening demons, insane aliens, even Ebisumaru's "hypnotic dance". But now, when he tried to ask a simple question to a girl he had known and admired for so long, he found himself completely overwhelmed. Despite spending inordinate amounts of time thinking of what to say when the proper opportunity presented itself, he was at a complete loss for words. He took another deep breath and began again. "Listen, I think there's a full moon tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to...I don't know, go stargazing on the Kai Highway or something after this."

"That sounds great! I'd love to go stargazing with you, Goemon. Why don't you just wait outside, I'll be out in a few minutes."

Goemon's heart was now racing so fast, he thought it was just about to give up from being overworked. He couldn't believe what just happened. His dream of going on a date with Omitsu was finally coming true. As he walked outside of the tea house, he became lightheaded, his mouth became dry, and he could feel himself losing control of his knees as they began to buckle. Goemon took several deep breaths as he waited for the girl of his dreams to walk out the door.

Omitsu appeared moments later wearing a red shawl around her shoulders. As they walked to the Kai Highway, which connected Oedo Town to Iga, Goemon told Omitsu the story of his latest adventure. Omitsu listened with great interest, gasping when he got to the final battle with Dochuki, chuckling when she learned how Ebisumaru managed to stop his escape, and gasping again when he told her about their narrow escape from the Wise Man's home through the underground tunnel.

"Wow, seems like you went through a lot this time," she said admiringly.

"Yeah, I guess we did. This seems like a good spot," Goemon said. They both sat on the top of a short hill. It turned out the moon wasn't quite full that night, but the numerous stars still shone brilliantly. Goemon, however, wasn't here just to watch the stars. "Anyway, we don't know where Bismaru went, but we have to find him before he causes too much trouble."

Omitsu nodded. She always worried about Goemon and his friends whenever they went off on a long journey, especially if she was the cause of it. "I guess that means you'll be going on another one of your adventures," she said softly. There was a long pause before she continued. "I bet you're getting irritated that I'm always getting kidnapped, that you and your friends have to worry about saving me on top of whatever else you're doing. It's just...I'm sorry I've inconvenienced you all those times, I can't really help it."

Goemon was shocked to hear all that coming from Omitsu. "That's crazy talk! Don't blame yourself, Omitsu. You're our friend, of course we're going to help you. And if any of those rotten villains lays a finger on you, it's just more incentive for us to send 'em packing and make sure they never return."

Omitsu giggled and smiled adoringly at Goemon before turning her attention to the night sky. Goemon's heart skipped a beat, as it always did when Omitsu laughed, and he stared at her profile, the moonlight reflecting off her large eyes. He was starting to become more relaxed as he presumed the date was going well. So relaxed, in fact, that he spent less time debating with himself about what to say. "Omitsu, I never realized how beautiful you look in the moonlight before now," he said. Goemon then slapped his forehead and laid himself flat on his back out of sheer embarrassment. He couldn't believe he had just said something like that. He mentally berated himself for what he thought was a fatal error. "_Oh man, I really screwed up this time._"

Omitsu seemed slightly surprised at this sudden statement for a moment. After a short while, however, she instinctively did something neither she nor Goemon had expected. Every motion she made was slow and timid, and it was clear from her facial expression that she was nervous. First, she moved closer to Goemon in small increments until she was just inches away. She leaned back until she was flat against the grass like Goemon. Finally, after several minutes of hesitation, she rolled on her side and put her hand and her head on his chest. Goemon put his arm around her and realized that he was happier at that moment than he had been in a long time.


	4. Three Years Earlier, Part 2

The next morning, Goemon went to Akindo Teahouse hoping his friends would arrive to discuss what their next course of action should be. He guessed, rightly so, that Ebisumaru would come in for breakfast. Goemon waved at his friend, who waved back and walked to his table. Sasuke and the Wise Man were next to arrive. The Wise Man seemed to be in a slightly better mood, though not nearly as chipper as usual. "We'll wait for Yae for a few more minutes before we start figuring out what to do about this Bismaru situation," said Goemon. Unfortunately, Yae never arrived, and the discussion began without her. Although nobody had the nerve to say it out loud, everybody felt that her career as an agent was taking over her life.

The four people present agreed that the best plan would be a complete search of Japan. Although it would be long and difficult, there didn't seem to be any better options. They knew a search on foot would be the most thorough, which caused Ebisumaru to groan loudly. Using Impact to travel wouldn't have been an option anyway, as he would be rebuilding the Wise Man's house.

Goemon and Omitsu exchanged many playful glances and smiles throughout the meal. It didn't take the Wise Man long to notice. "So, what did you two do last night, lover boy?" he asked.

Goemon was so lost in Omitsu's eyes, he didn't even care that somebody had figured out they had spent an intimate evening together. "Oh, nothing much. Just went stargazing on the Kai Highway."

The Wise Man chuckled heartily. "Stargazing, eh? That's certainly something. There's nothing more romantic than that, my boy. Anyway, congratulations! Looks like you hit the jackpot." It seemed like just talking about pretty girls was making the Wise Man happier.

"Uh-huh," Goemon said distractedly. Omitsu was just passing their table and moved her hands along Goemon's shoulders as she did so.

That very same day, Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke began looking for Bismaru. When they finally did tell Yae of their plan, she said she would join them when her career allowed her to. It turned out this condition was met more often than anybody expected. It seemed that the number of incidents requiring her services was growing smaller and smaller.

Goemon also met Ebisumaru's wife, Rie, for the first time that day. She was a very kind lady with almond colored eyes and black hair that went down to her waist. Goemon was surprised that someone that beautiful would marry someone like Ebisumaru, but it became obvious fairly quickly why Ebisumaru chose to marry her: she was an excellent cook. Goemon always looked forward to going to her house, where she would greet him carrying a plate full of sweets.

Nobody the ninjas talked to knew anything about Bismaru. "Are you sure you haven't seen him? You haven't seen a nun that looks just like that guy in the blue outfit there?" Such a question would earn the inquirer a reproachful glare from Ebisumaru. The fact that most people seemed to have a difficult time wrapping their minds around the concept of a man who dresses as a nun didn't make things any easier. They found that people would have rather talked about that than the importance of finding him as soon as possible. Their search was turning out to be fruitless.

"I can't believe it! How could he get away from us like that?" Goemon asked angrily. He was pacing in the foyer of the Wise Man's newly rebuilt home. "We searched all of Japan twice, where could he possibly be hiding?"

Ebisumaru, who was the only person in the room with him, shook his head and continued to munch on one of the snacks that the Wise Man's chef robot had prepared. "I don't know, but it doesn't seem like he's causing any problems, at least not out in the open. By the way, I have no idea what this thing is, but it tastes awful." He threw the pastry in question over his shoulder and grabbed a different one from the tray.

Yae came into the room from the adjoining chamber. "Well, we looked at all of the Wise Man's maps, and it looks like we didn't miss anything. We really have searched every square inch of Japan twice and come up empty-handed both times." Sasuke and the Wise Man soon came out of the same room looking equally disappointed.

"So what do we do now? We're not going to do a full search again, are we?" asked Ebisumaru. He and everyone else had instinctively turned to the Wise Man and expected him to give his expert advice. He was, after all, the Wise Man.

There was a short pause before the Wise Man took a deep breath. "I know you're not going to like this, Goemon, but I think the best thing we can do now is just wait. We have to wait for Bismaru to make the first move. You'll just have to remain vigilant and stop him before the threat grows too large."

Goemon was seething with rage. He slammed his fist on the table, sending the tray and all the snacks flying into the air. "What do you mean we have to wait?! So we're just going to sit here and hope Bismaru does something so obvious that it gets our attention right away?"

Sasuke quickly interjected before things got out of hand. "Mr. Goemon, I know this strategy upsets you, but Yae and I agree with the Wise Man. Remember, patience is a virtue. Bismaru will soon reveal himself, and we'll all be there to stop him."

"You can comb all of Japan again if you want to, Goemon, but I don't think even you are that rash," Yae said. "One thing's for certain, you'll be searching alone. You should at least think of Omitsu before you do something stupid. She said she worries about us every time we go on an adventure. Just imagine how she'd feel if you went out there by yourself."

Goemon slowly exhaled as he waited for some of his anger to dissipate. "Fine. But I have a bad feeling about this. I just hope we don't end up regretting this someday."

And so they waited. For nearly three years they remained in Oedo Town, living ordinary lives and waiting for some sign that Bismaru or any other threat had emerged. But nothing happened. Japan was going through an unusually long period of peace and tranquility, and it was making Goemon furious. He knew Bismaru was out there somewhere, and every night he secretly hoped there would be some sign of him the next day.

---

Now they had found him. He stood just ten feet in front of them with an ugly smirk on his face. Goemon pointed his pipe directly at him and said, "It's the end of the line for you, Bismaru. We're not letting you escape this time. You can be sure of that."


	5. Meeting Makurayami

The four ninjas had their weapons at the ready, prepared for whatever surprises Bismaru would throw their way. Bismaru, however, showed no sign of fear or anxiety. He stood steadfast, completely calm, his eyes moving between each of his foes individually as he waited for one of them to strike.

Goemon became tired of this waiting game. He charged at Bismaru, but just as he was about to attack, a wall of fire rose out of the ground. It stood mere inches in front of Bismaru and would have fried Goemon to a crisp if he hadn't managed to skid to a halt just in time.

"Oh, ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!" Bismaru couldn't keep himself from chuckling gleefully at Goemon's mistake. "You may have been able to stop me in the past, but not this time. You may have been able to defeat the great Dochuki, but now you face the wrath of the most powerful demons in the Underworld. You may claim that I won't be able to escape this time, but I would love to see you try and stop me. When faced with the power I have summoned, you will suffer incredibly cruel fates. You will feel immense pain, and nothing you can do will be able to stop it. You will all wish you were dead, and we will be more than happy to oblige you. You will--"

Suddenly, a loud rumbling voice could be heard throughout the cavern. "Silence, slave!" it shouted. Bismaru was now shaking from head to toe and apologizing repeatedly. Goemon and his friends looked around to see where the voice had originated from, but saw nothing. They held their ground, waiting for it to speak again.

The earthshaking voice eventually began again. "So, these are the people who defeated my son in battle." What looked like a large, fang-filled mouth floating in midair formed these words. Seconds later, two large yellow eyes opened just above the mouth. They were filled with ferocious anger and drove fear into the hearts of Goemon and his friends. They hadn't noticed this creature before this point, and its sudden appearance was so startling, Ebisumaru stepped back several steps and nearly fell off the cliff.

The darkness surrounding the walls of the cave began to recede. Goemon could see now that their foe seemed to be made of darkness itself and took the form of a giant bat, with one thick arm attached to the front of each wing. Its head just managed to touch the ceiling and its wings had spread out and covered the walls. After they had been lowered to his side, the ninjas saw numerous hieroglyphs scribbled on the walls of the cavern that cast a feeling of foreboding on the ninjas.

"Wh-What the hell is that thing?" Goemon asked. He was still too shocked from this sudden surprise to say much more than that.

"I am Makurayami, master of the darkness and father of Dochuki," the bat replied. "I haunt your worst nightmares and instill fear in the hearts of all who gaze upon me. And now it is my duty to revive my favorite son and make sure those who defeated him are completely destroyed." 

"THIS is Dochuki's father?" said Yae.

"And he's going to revive him? asked a wide-eyed Sasuke.

"And d-destroy the people who d-defeated him?" Ebisumaru said as he hid behind Sasuke and Yae.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Goemon could feel his courage slowly coming back to him as he said those familiar words.

Makurayami smiled slyly. "Well, I suppose I'll have to prevent that from happening, then." Before Goemon or anybody else could respond, Makurayami shrunk in size and flew straight at Goemon's chest, disappearing inside. Goemon was thrown to the floor and began writhing uncontrollably, his eyes closed and his hand clutching at the area where the demon had entered his body. His friends had scattered and each watched Goemon, unsure of what to do. Eventually, Goemon stopped convulsing and stood up. His body was slouched slightly and his eyes were tinted with an eerie gray film. There was a moment of complete silence as Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae watched Goemon in horror.

Finally, he spoke. Although it was his lips that formed the words, his voice had just a hint of Makurayami's powerful tones. "No! This won't do at all. I must find another." He fell to his knees as quickly as before, and a ball of black smoke escaped from his chest, leaving behind the residue of a foul-smelling liquid.

The ball then headed in Ebisumaru's direction. The same thing that had happened to Goemon moments earlier happened to Ebisumaru as well. He stood up after some time and had the same glazed eyes and spoke in a voice that had been affected in the same way as Goemon's. "This one too," was all he said before Makurayami ejected himself from Ebisumaru's body.

Sasuke was his next target, but Makurayami proved more unsuccessful at possessing robots than humans. He passed right through Sasuke, who could feel his insides acting erratically as he did so. Makurayami didn't bother trying again with Sasuke, and instead focused on Yae.

"Yae, watch out!" Goemon shouted to his companion. Yae held up her katana and slashed at the ball as it approached, but the blade went right through it. She could not stop him from entering. Although her knees were slowly buckling, she was able to remain standing much longer than Goemon or Ebisumaru. However, she was soon forced to submit to Makurayami's dark powers. The katana fell from her hand as she went down on her knees.

Yae struggled with all her might, which apparently slowed the process. Through her screams and clenched teeth, Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke could see that she was going through a nearly unbearable amount of pain. But in the end, something unusual happened. Still on her knees, Yae began coughing violently, eventually spitting out the ball of smoke. It rolled on the floor for a few seconds before floating again.

Goemon and his friends were shivering and covered in sweat. Yae was in an especially bad condition, as she lacked the strength to even stand up. They all looked around in confusion, wondering what had just happened and why Makurayami had let them all go, voluntarily or otherwise.

Makurayami flew back to his original position and returned to his bat form. He was breathing heavily and addressed Bismaru. "I can't use any of them. They all lack the qualities of a proper host."

Bismaru was flabbergasted. "But, how can that be? You won't find anybody with a purer heart in all of--"

"There is more to it than that, you fool! I need to find someone who..." There was a slight pause before his eyes grew wider. "Bismaru, you must eliminate these pests as quickly as possible. I cannot have them interfering with my plans." 

Bismaru nodded and reached into a fold in his robe. He pulled out a rectangular remote control and pushed the only button on it. A loud crash was heard overhead, and a giant robot floated down behind Goemon and his friends. The face was similar to its master's, but the large eyes and lips made it look more feminine, a representation of the appearance Bismaru wished he had. Nearly every other inch of the body was painted silver. A red sash with embroidered white hearts hung down the front from its waist down, ending at the edge of its metallic skirt. Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae had battled this robot twice before. On both occasions, its mien had generated snorts rather than shouts of fear. If it had not been for the unpleasant experience of the past few minutes, this particular instance would have been no different.

Goemon managed to let out a weak chuckle. "Bismaru Elegant again? This'll be a snap."

"Oh, ho ho--" An impatient growl from Makurayami had stopped Bismaru in the middle of his trademark laugh. "Sorry, sir. We'll see about that, Goemon. Before now, you and Impact have been nothing but a thorn in the side of this beautiful machine. This masterpiece represents the doom of you and your pathetic hunk of metal. Your bodies will be crushed and mangled beyond recognition, and--"

"Bismaru! Destroy them NOW!" Makurayami yelled. The anger in his voice made Bismaru jump several feet in the air and land flat on his face. He shakily got up and reached into the opposite fold, pulling out a similar-looking remote control. He pushed the button on this one, causing a green light to shine on him. Bismaru floated to the source of the light, Bismaru Elegant's puckered mouth, and disappeared inside.

"Well, I guess that's my cue," Goemon said. He reached into his own inside pocket and pulled out a white conch shell. He put the small end of the shell to his lips and blew into it with all his might, releasing a low, drawn-out tone.

At the same time, Makurayami was becoming extremely frustrated with the obvious incompetence of his servant. "My children, listen to me well," he said with an authoritative air. "These four must not be allowed to come into possession of the Jewels of Light. Go, find them, and protect them with your lives. Your brother's successful revival depends on it." The four lights lifted off and began to fly out the entrance of the cave. "Wait, Daichi." The yellow light stopped in its tracks as the other three went their separate ways. "Perhaps you should give Bismaru a bit of assistance."

The yellow light then bounced on the floor behind Goemon and his friends before flying off. The ground underneath them began to crack and eventually crumbled. Goemon just managed to put the conch shell away before losing his balance and plummeting to the ground below with Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae.


	6. Impact vs Bismaru Elegant

Bismaru Elegant raced towards its victims, hoping to earn some sort of recognition for finally stopping them once and for all. Ebisumaru was unfortunate enough to hit a ledge on the way down, bouncing on his large stomach and narrowly avoiding Bismaru Elegant's grasp before continuing his fall. Otherwise, everybody fell without stopping. The mountain rushed by at their sides and both the ground and Bismaru Elegant came closer to them at an alarming rate. The situation was dismal. Goemon grew more anxious with every split second that passed, hoping that he was quick enough in his call for aid.

Two metal fists sped past Goemon and his friends and landed right on Bismaru Elegant's face, sending it flying upwards. A loud whine could be heard from inside as the robot spun out of control and embedded itself into the side of Mt. Fuji. A similar lower fist caught Goemon and Ebisumaru, while yet another one caught Sasuke and Yae. Before they even had the chance to breathe sighs of relief, they began floating towards their metallic saviors.

"Impact, just in time, as always," said Goemon as he sat comfortably in his chair, which was quickly rising from Impact's chest to the cockpit behind his eyes. He assumed the same had happened to Sasuke and Yae inside Miss Impact. Both robots were now taking fighting stances on the ground. "Sasuke! Yae! Are you two all right?"

A crackle was heard before Sasuke's familiar voice came over the intercom. "We're fine, Goemon."

"A little shaken, but we'll manage," said Yae. "Let's just give this joker the usual beating and we'll figure out where to go from there."

"Sounds like a plan. Piece of cake, right?" Goemon put the speaker back and noticed Ebisumaru moaning and rubbing his stomach tenderly.

"You didn't ask if I was okay, Goemon. Kind of insensitive, don't you think?" Ebisumaru whined. "Ohhhh, my poor stomach. I think I'm going to throw up."

"You'd better not! The Wise Man will have a heart attack if he sees that kind of a mess in here. Just hold it in, it shouldn't be too rough."

At that moment, a large, bowl-shaped object zoomed down and slammed into Impact's head. The force of the blow knocked the nauseous Ebisumaru out of his chair. "Ow! I thought you said it wouldn't be too rough. Pay attention, Goemon, you should've seen that coming."

The bowl grew arms, a chest, and a head, revealing itself to be Bismaru Elegant. "You can't possibly defeat me this time, Goemon," Bismaru said through a loudspeaker. "I've got some new tricks up my sleeve that I think you'll just love. Face it, you pathetic fools, victory is mine! Nothing you do can--Oof!" Impact kicked Bismaru Elegant square in the chest, giving Miss Impact the perfect opportunity to unleash her formidable rapid punch attack, the "Hundred Furious Slaps".

"Shut up, Bismaru. You really do talk too much," Goemon said into his speaker while Miss Impact continued to pummel her unfortunate foe.

It took awhile for Bismaru to regain control of his robot. At this point, sparks were already shooting out from the many holes and dents that Impact and Miss Impact had made in Bismaru Elegant. Bismaru refused to give up, however, and was just as confident as before. "Just a minor setback," he said smugly. "Now the real fight will begin."

Bismaru Elegant turned to face the mountain and glided backwards. A compartment opened on its back, and several red roses flew out and made two heart shaped formations, one for each of Bismaru's opponents. They slowly moved towards their respective targets, and although it was a valiant effort on Bismaru's part, Impact and Miss Impact were able to easily knock them out of the air.

Seconds later, Bismaru Elegant suddenly appeared between Impact and Miss Impact and leaned forward, lips puckered, ready to plant a heavy kiss on Impact's face and drain his energy. Impact wasn't prepared for the attack, and put his arms up to guard and push Bismaru Elegant back. Miss Impact eventually managed to wrap her arms around the rounded gray shoulders of the robot and hold it in place.

Goemon's team was clearly winning the battle. Even though he was quite pleased by this fact, he still felt strange. It was too easy. Goemon figured that three years of doing almost nothing would mean he and his companions would have a more difficult time adjusting to the heat of battle again, especially after being thrown into a so-called "Impact battle" so soon. He knew he was not piloting Impact to his full potential, and he could see that Sasuke and Yae were having similar difficulties getting used to everything again. Ebisumaru, meanwhile, had lost the tolerance he had finally managed to build up against motion sickness. And yet, this was the easiest battle Goemon could remember fighting in a long time. He shrugged these feelings off and decided it was time to finish this. "Okay, I think we've dragged this on long enough," he said. "Come on Ebisumaru, you know what to do."

Both Goemon and Ebisumaru hit some buttons on the control panel and pulled a heavy lever inbetween their two chairs. Bismaru Elegant, who was hardly struggling to get out of Miss Impact's grasp, froze completely and stared patiently at Impact. A ball of light began to form in Impact's mouth, and grew exponentially with every passing second. After several moments of Impact charging up, and Bismaru watching, the beam of energy was finally ready to go. "All right, let go NOW!" Goemon shouted. Miss Impact released her grip and began backing away. Finally, Bismaru Elegant reacted to the threat, quickly spinning around once and vanished into thin air, leaving behind a puff of smoke. Panic shortened Goemon's breath as he realized he had pushed a large red button milliseconds before Bismaru Elegant had disappeared. The beam was now aimed at a new target.

Unfortunately, Sasuke and Yae didn't have time to maneuver the bulky Miss Impact out of the path of the beam. A thick blue laser hit Miss Impact on the shoulder, causing her right arm to fly off and explode after hitting the ground. Sparks streamed out of the gaping hole where Miss Impact's arm had been moments earlier. Yae was the first to say something over the radio. "What the hell were you thinking, Goemon?! You should've known that was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. We could've easily taken him without having to resort to that, and you didn't even--! Argh! I swear, one of these days, your impatience is going to be the death of us all! Damn it, Goemon, are you even listening to me?!"

Yae's screams and obscenities were muffled for some time by static. After clear sound had been regained, an irritated Sasuke could be heard along with a furious Yae. "Yae, give me the speaker. Give it to me, I think you've had enough. Hey, just calm down and hand it over." Yae could be heard arguing and struggling as she held onto the speaker with all her might, still trying to vent her anger at Goemon. After a while, Sasuke finally managed to get a chance to speak to Goemon and Ebisumaru. "Listen, it really was foolish to use the laser right there. But now that you did, we've gotta find Bismaru and eliminate him as quickly as possible, and then take Miss Impact to the Wise Man for repairs. You'll have to bring Impact, too. Unfortunately, this means Makurayami will just have to wait for later. So the sooner we get this done, the better."

But Goemon wasn't really paying attention to any of this. He was turning Impact's head and scanning the area for any sign of where Bismaru Elegant had gone. He found nothing unusual and banged his fists on the control panel in frustration. Ebisumaru simply remained in his seat and clicked his tongue as he slowly shook his head. "Boy Goemon, you've really done it this time," he said. "Yae sounds like she's finally just about ready to kill you. And if she doesn't, the Wise Man probably will."

Goemon had not paid any attention to that either. His anger continued to rise at a dangerous rate. "Bismaru!" he shouted. "Show yourself, you rat bastard! Show yourself and fight!" There was no response.

Everybody waited with nervous anticipation. They knew Bismaru Elegant was out there somewhere, waiting for the right moment to strike. That moment came when four missiles in the shape of pink hearts flew in Miss Impact's direction. She used her remaining arm to bat them away. The sparks coming out of her shoulder grew larger and were coming out more rapidly than ever before.

Impact turned to see the source of the hearts. As expected, it was Bismaru Elegant, waiting just outside of Oedo Town. It held a rose in its hand and tossed it to the floor. The flower floated down gently and disintegrated before reaching the ground.

Goemon couldn't pass up this opportunity. He charged at Bismaru at full speed, ready to end this for good. Bismaru had now evolved from a nuisance to a threat, and Goemon felt he had put up with him long enough.

In seconds, Impact was pummeling Bismaru Elegant nonstop. He gave his opponent no chance to move, no chance to counter in any way. Goemon was pushing buttons and pulling levers faster and with greater intensity than he had ever done before. After several powerful punches and kicks, Impact delivered an uppercut that sent Bismaru Elegant straight up in the air. A large pipe similar to Goemon's in shape slid out of Impact's right hand. In the blink of an eye, he swung the pipe forward, causing a long chain to fly out and latch onto Bismaru Elegant. He yanked the chain down, and Bismaru Elegant hit the ground below with a loud crash. After the dust settled, whirs and clicks could be heard from inside Bismaru Elegant, who was shaking from top to bottom. There was a blinding explosion, and Bismaru Elegant was no more. Or so they thought.

As had happened the two previous times, Bismaru Elegant's head flew down in front of Impact. "Well done. You've managed to beat me a third time," Bismaru said from inside. "But now I'm afraid I must be going. So, until we meet again--"

But Goemon wasn't keen on letting Bismaru escape again. Impact grabbed the floating head before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "There won't be a next time, Bismaru," Goemon said. "Any last words? I bet you're dying to get one last long-winded speech in."

Even so, Impact didn't give Bismaru a chance to talk. He hurled the head up in the air and took aim with his chain pipe. But before he could release it, a thick pink laser shot out from somewhere on the ground and hit what remained of Bismaru Elegant right in the face. There was another explosion and a shower of sparks and debris as the head of Bismaru Elegant was destroyed.

Impact turned to look at Miss Impact, who, despite the grin on her face, was now trembling as Bismaru Elegant had been moments earlier. Time was running out before Miss Impact had to seek mechanical attention, but Goemon had to ask one more question before their departure. "So, what happened to the laser being completely unnecessary?" he asked sarcastically.

There was no comprehensible reply, just static. Goemon recognized Sasuke's voice on the other end, and saw rockets blast off from Miss Impact's sandals as she flew up into the air. Although it frustrated Goemon that he would have to put off searching for Makurayami, he knew he had to follow Miss Impact for support. Impact followed suit, and they both went towards the Wise Man's house.

It was a short trip, but it was also a silent one. Even Ebisumaru stopped complaining about his nausea and just twiddled his thumbs the whole way there. Nobody felt they had anything interesting to say after this experience.

The Wise Man heard Impact and Miss Impact approach and came outside to greet them with a smile on his face. His mirth quickly turned to a look of painful surprise when he saw Miss Impact, and it looked like he was going to have a heart attack and keel over on the spot. Fortunately for everybody, he regained control of himself after getting over the initial shock. Anything tragic happening to him would certainly be bad news for Goemon and his friends, particularly Sasuke.

The Wise Man was just over 100 years old, but was still as virile and energetic as he had been when Goemon first met him. He ran to Goemon with great intensity as the blue-haired ninja beamed down from Impact and shook him by the shoulders. "Mi-Miss Impact! What happened to Miss Impact?! What have you done to my beautiful robot?!" he shouted. "Come on, spit it out! What happened? Who did this? Where's Sasuke and Yae, I want to yell at them, too."

"Calm down, Wise Man," Goemon said as Yae and Sasuke descended from Miss Impact's mouth. "I'll explain everything. It was Bismaru Elegant, and--"

The Wise Man let out a weak attempt at a laugh. "Bismaru? That loser is hardly a real threat. There's no way his oversized hunk of scrap metal could do this much damage."

"Listen to me, it wasn't Bismaru that did that." Goemon explained the events of the entire battle to the Wise Man, whose eyes narrowed viciously when he heard about the laser incident.

"So it was you," said the Wise Man slowly. His voice was venomous and accusatory. He put his arms up as if he was about to strangle Goemon, and decided instead to throw his hands to the sky in frustration. "All right, I guess I'd better get to work fixing her up. It'll probably take at least a week, so try not to get into too much trouble before then."

"Wise Man, we might not be able to wait that long. There's a new enemy we've got to worry about, and for all we know we may need to use Impact and Miss Impact." Goemon then explained what happened in the cave at Mt. Fuji.

"I understand, but do you really think I'm going to let you use Impact and Miss Impact after this fiasco?" asked the Wise Man. He breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, although his frustration was keeping him from making that breath smooth. "All right, I'll try to work fast, but I can't make any guarantees." 

This was the best Goemon could hope for, so he headed home on foot with Ebisumaru and Yae following close behind. Sasuke stayed at the Wise Man's home so he could start the repairs immediately. Although he didn't expect to find anything, Goemon was scanning the surrounding area for any sign of an enemy.

It didn't take long for the silence to be broken. "So, I never got a straight answer out of you, Goemon," said Yae. "Why did you do something so reckless? I was holding Bismaru Elegant back for you, why did you have to use that laser? Didn't you realize that there would be a good chance of you hitting us? When are you going to learn to have some patience and think before you act?" 

Goemon's head was starting to ache horribly. He couldn't believe how much of a disaster this day had turned out to be. Yae's interrogation was just making a bad situation even worse. "I made the right decision, it wasn't my fault the bastard was able to just vanish like that. If I had hit him, you'd be praising me for finishing the fight quickly and decisively. Trust me, it was the right thing to do. And why are you yelling at me so much, you're the one that shot Bismaru Elegant at the end."

"No, it really wasn't the right thing to do! It was a stupid idea, and you should've seen that at the time. I wanted to stop you, but I knew there was nothing I could do after you started charging it up. As for the beam at the end, that was mostly Sasuke's decision. Don't forget, there was no danger of hitting Impact that time." There was a beat of silence before Yae spoke again, her voice softened slightly. "Listen, the three year delay may have been a bad idea. I think that because you were thrown into this so quickly and after taking such a long hiatus, you're even more eager to get stuff done in the most showy way possible. It's even making you irresponsible. I'm sorry you were forced to wait that long, I'm sure it wasn't easy for you. But seriously, Goemon, your impatience is going to come back and really hurt you one of these days, and that really worries me. I just don't want to see you or anybody else get hurt."

"Save the lectures, Yae. You have no right to talk about patience, you hypocrite."

"What did you say?!" Yae's voice was raised again and her hand went to the hilt of her sword.

"Hey, I think we're all saying some things we're going to regret here," Ebisumaru chimed in. "I'm starving, so why don't we just go get something to eat and forget all this ugliness?"

The argument continued like this for the rest of the trip home, with Ebisumaru occasionally trying to settle them down. He was largely unsuccessful, and only hoped that they would eventually make up like they always had in the past.


	7. SSIN

The next morning, Goemon and Ebisumaru sat at their usual table in the Akindo Teahouse. Omitsu had greeted them with her usual squeal of joy and announced that the heroes of Japan had arrived. Nobody else in the restaurant seemed to share the same level of excitement that Omitsu had, although there were some brief stares from the people who had seen Goemon depart to Mt. Fuji the previous day. The enthusiastic waitress had used that same introduction for over three years now, and all of the customers had grown bored of it long before then.

Goemon stared down at his cup of tea in deep thought. He had spent most of the night thinking about what Yae had said to him, the entire conversation playing in his mind over and over again. He hadn't shown it at the time, but what she said had really got to him. Maybe he was becoming irresponsible. Maybe another brash action would end up hurting him or one of his friends, and if that happened he wasn't sure he could ever forgive himself. But at the same time, he felt he had the duty to lead, and sometimes that involved acting without taking too much time to think each option through carefully.

He and Yae had had so many similar disagreements in the past, he was sure their friendship wouldn't be adversely affected in the long run by this one argument. Even so, he knew an apology was in order. After all, she was obviously concerned about him.

Goemon and Ebisumaru finished their meal and got up to exit, leaving their payment on the table. Omitsu waved affectionately in their direction as they left. Goemon smiled and waved back. No matter how bad his day was, seeing Omitsu usually cheered him up, as long as she wasn't interrupting the beginning of a long overdue adventure.

Goemon and Ebisumaru walked through the streets of Oedo Town, discussing what to do about their demon problem. Goemon, as usual, wanted to waste no more time and start the search right away. His eagerness had returned to its full fervor. They hadn't walked very far when they heard a feminine voice whisper to them. "Psst. Goemon! Ebisumaru! Over here."

Goemon and Ebisumaru turned in the direction of the voice and saw a figure covered from head to toe in a green cloak. Her face (at least, they assumed it was a "her") was shrouded in the darkness of her hood, which also seemed to hide two small points at the top of her head. She beckoned Goemon and Ebisumaru forward with her hand, which was inside a small yellow glove.

Goemon was hesitant at first to follow this stranger's advice. "I can help you," she said after several seconds of Goemon staring at her. Goemon finally trusted her and walked down the alley, with Ebisumaru following closely behind. There was something familiar about the voice, but Goemon couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The figure turned around and removed her hood, revealing a face resembling that of a cat. She had red markings on her cheeks and red hair to match, and her pointed ears stood straight up above her head. Goemon and his friends had met her once before. It was...

"Hey, it's Suzuki," Ebisumaru said. "How are you doing?"

"Suzuki" was visibly irritated. "Umm...actually, my name is Suzaku."

"Hey, it's Suzaku. How are you doing?"

---

Yae woke up that morning feeling worse than she had in a long time. She had laid in bed for much of the night thinking about Goemon. He seemed to turn a deaf ear to the fact that she was so concerned about his well-being, and she was extremely hurt by this. On top of that, she had a splitting headache and an agonizing stomachache. She couldn't bring herself to eat anything, and instead decided to report for work early. Her boss was always pleased when his employees showed up early. Yae knew she couldn't show any symptoms of her internal or external ailments while at work. There was no mercy for SSIN agents who showed any kind of weakness.

The headquarters of the SSIN was a tall building not far from Oedo Castle. It was inconspicuous in appearance, save for the sign by the sliding door that assured all readers that this building was not the headquarters of the SSIN. Yae looked around to make sure nobody was watching her and entered the building.

The first room looked normal, most likely in case anybody who doubted the validity of the sign wandered in. There was no indication that this was a place where missions of a top secret nature were planned. There were some chairs on the side and a simple desk at the back, where the only other person in the room, the receptionist, sat. "Miss Yae, Hideyoshi would like to speak with you, ad he didn't sound too happy" said the receptionist in a raspy voice. "Good luck, you're probably gonna need it."

Nobody knew much about the receptionist except that she had worked here since long before Yae was born. She was dangerously overweight, and her stubby fingers made flipping through her many pages of work a chore. Her thick glasses were dirty and partially covered her dreary brown eyes. She buried her face in her paperwork immediately after relaying Hideyoshi's message to Yae, which made it more difficult to see the disinterested frown she was most likely wearing. In all the years Yae had been an agent here, she had never once seen this woman smile.

"Thanks, Ayame," Yae said as she walked past the desk to a set of double doors. She slowly turned the knob and walked inside, fearing the worst.

Unlike the foyer, nearly every inch of wall space in this room was decorated with banners, maps, and paintings. Two intertwined dragons were painted on the ceiling in a breathtaking display. Both of the side walls contained calligraphy posters to remind members of the organization's three cardinal values: secrecy, loyalty, and justice. Yae walked to the center of the room, where an ornate oaken desk from a tall man whose back was facing her. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps. "Ah, Miss Yae. I've been expecting you." He turned around completely, revealing a wide body and face, and glasses even thicker than Ayame's. Several large, beautiful rings were placed on his old, worn out fingers. As he lowered himself into his imposing leather chair, he let out a huge sigh, as if sitting down was a task that required a great amount of effort. Slumped in his chair, he looked like a frog. A giant, slimy, disgusting frog. "I see you're early. At least you can still do that right."

"Thank you, Master Hideyoshi," Yae chanted dryly. "Sir" simply wouldn't cut it for him; he insisted on being called "Master", a title that he felt truly encompassed his greatness.

In fact, Yae loathed her boss. At the beginning of her career at the SSIN, Hideyoshi was a handsome man with an impressive ability to inspire confidence in his employees. He was young and idealistic, the heart of a true leader beating in his perfectly sculpted chest. But this had not lasted for long. He had been the head of the SSIN for only one year before he lost his zeal. He grew fat and tired, and got some sick pleasure out of making his agents squirm. This sudden transformation had always confounded Yae, who had at one point considered him to be quite attractive. If Yae had known that Hideyoshi would turn out like this, she would have shuddered and gagged every time she looked at him.

"Have a seat, Yae," Hideyoshi said. There was a pause before he began laughing at this joke that he had been using for years. There were no other chairs in the room for Yae to sit in. "Anyway, I'll be frank," he continued. "You are a very skilled agent, one of our best."

Yae nodded, but said nothing. Hideyoshi hated to be interrupted in the middle of one of his speeches.

"But lately, you've been engaging in actions that go against the very tenets of the SSIN. You have made your affiliation with us a little too...public for my liking. Nearly everybody in Japan knows who you are, and we certainly can't have that. Imagine if our headquarters was found, the chaos that would ensue. On top of that, you're spending entirely too much time with that hideous excuse of a ninja."

Yae groaned and rolled her eyes. It was no secret to Yae that Hideyoshi despised Goemon almost as much as she hated Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi was taken aback by Yae's insolence, but kept going. "It is my understanding that you went to investigate something at Mt. Fuji yesterday. He is a bad influence on a SSIN agent like you, Yae. Once a thief, always a thief. There is no real justice in what he does. At this point, I'm starting to think your loyalties lie with him instead of us."

"You're wrong, Hideyoshi," Yae said. She had put up with this idiocy for too long. "Goemon was a righteous thief, a bringer of true justice. He has always helped those in need. And even though Goemon is one of my best friends, you know that I'm always forced to put this job first. My loyalty will always lie with the SSIN." Yae's breathing rapidly sped up and became harder after this. It was far from being as powerful as she would have liked, but she hoped she had made her point.

"What he pursues is not real justice. He seeks glory above all else. Hardly righteous, if you ask me." Hideyoshi was visibly perturbed by Yae's sudden outburst. The kunoichi, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes and tried her best to suppress a low, almost inaudible growl. "Perhaps I should be more strict on this matter. From this point forward, you are not to be seen with Goemon on any type of adventure, or expedition, or investigation, or whatever you want to call it. If there is substantial evidence that you are joining him on one of these foolhardy errands, I will have no choice but to terminate your employment with us as an agent."

"May I remind you, Master Hideyoshi, that a member of the SSIN is a member for life. People are very rarely permitted to quit, and even if it were possible for you to fire me, it wouldn't be a wise decision. What if I became so bitter that I revealed the secrets of the SSIN to anybody who would listen? Perhaps it would be in everyone's best interest that I stay here, don't you think?" Yae was relieved, not to mention thankful that she had taken the time to learn every single rule of this organization. She had finally managed to outsmart her boss.

"I am aware of that, but also note that I threatened to end your career as an agent. You'll still be working for the SSIN for the rest of your days, you can be sure of that." A malicious grin formed on Hideyoshi's face as a look of confusion formed on Yae's. "You'll be coming in every day to fill out paperwork. You will have no time off, and you will no longer be sent to do any fieldwork for us."

This was the worst thing Yae could possibly hear. She gasped and covered her mouth in horror at the prospect of being stuck behind a desk all day. "You wouldn't--"

"I would indeed," Hideyoshi said. His smile curved viciously and stretched from ear to ear. Watching Yae suffer was apparently giving him great joy. "Look on the bright side, Yae. In a few years, you might have Ayame's job. She started out just like you: a brilliant young kunoichi with dreams of being a great agent for the SSIN. She worked hard and became one of the best, again just like you. But then she became sloppy. Started carrying out her own plans in pursuit of what she called 'real justice,' very similar to this Goemon fellow. But what she really did was act out of line of SSIN standards. Since she had served this organization so well in the past, the heads of the organization at that time decided to strip her of her former title and make her a receptionist."

Yae imagined her future self if this was to be her fate. She saw an aged woman with sagging skin and unkempt hair, and a face that lacked any desire to work or even live. It was the most frightening image Yae had ever seen. "B-But sir--How could you do this to me? I've been so loyal and served so wholeheartedly. You--You said just a moment ago that I was one of your best agents." Yae's throat was growing sore, and her anger was almost too much to control.

"It's true that losing you as an agent would be difficult. But don't worry, we have others who are just as good and will actually adhere to my orders. And remember, at this time you are still an agent for us. This is just your final warning. No more adventures with Goemon, it's for your own good."

"For my own good?!" Yae shouted. She knew she would be strongly rebuked for this, but that didn't matter anymore. She was too upset to care. "Goemon has been a better friend to me than anybody else in my entire life." 

"He's corrupted you, Yae. He's changed you for the worse." 

"He has NOT corrupted me! I'm still as good a ninja as I always was! Goemon's changed me for the better, he made me a better person. It took me over three years to see this, and I didn't fully realize it until now, standing here in front of you today. But I know in my heart that it's true, and I will defend his honor with all my might!"

"Fine, defend his honor all you want. You are still more than welcome to call him a friend. But remember that he is a foolish man whose tactics often make a situation worse in the long run rather than better. A member of the SSIN can not be seen working with someone like that."

The conversation had grown quite heated in the few minutes it had lasted so far. Yae couldn't believe how twisted Hideyoshi's perception of Goemon was. "'_Worse in the long run rather than better?' I don't believe this!_" How could he say that after he saved all of Japan so many times?

"Now then," Hideyoshi continued. "It doesn't look like we have any assignments for you today. You will remain on standby in Oedo Town until we have need of your services. If you have no further questions, you may go."

Yae bowed stiffly and started out the door, only too happy to go. "Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention," Hideyoshi called to her before clearing his throat. "May I remind you, Miss Yae, that if you do reveal the SSIN's secrets to anybody as you so threatened, you will suffer the same punishment as anybody else who goes against the organization's tenets: execution. And if you run, rest assured we will find you. Have a nice day."

Yae walked out of Hideyoshi's office and wanted to collapse on the spot. Her will to get out of that place as quickly as possible was the only thing keeping her standing. "What a nightmare these past two days have been," she complained as she massaged her forehead.

"I heard the whole thing, Yae," Ayame said. She took her glasses off for a cleaning, revealing a look of genuine concern and sympathy. "Don't make the same mistakes I did. It's not worth it. You're still an attractive young girl, you don't deserve to be stuck here all day every day." Ayame went back to her pile of paperwork, which didn't seem to have diminished at all over the duration of Yae's confrontation with her boss.

Yae was still fuming when she walked outside. Her headache had gotten much worse, and she could feel the vomit starting to creep up inside her. She huffed defiantly and sat on the street just a few yards from SSIN headquarters, immediately burying her face in her palms.

She cursed her boss under her breath, not caring at all about the stares she received from the people around her. Yae hadn't heard Hideyoshi speak this badly of Goemon in over three years, which was one of the reasons she enjoyed the hiatus so much more than Goemon did. She was free to spend time with Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke, an activity she enjoyed more than she was willing to admit. But there was no logic to Hideyoshi's hatred of him. He was blinded by his prejudice, a loathing he had developed back when Goemon still called himself a righteous thief. It sickened Yae to the core.

Even though Yae had left Goemon on less than pleasant terms the previous night, she missed his company and wished he was there to console her. But if he was here, the conversation from the day before, a topic that Yae was not keen on talking about, would surely come up.

Yae's mind then wandered to the threats Hideyoshi had made. Could he possibly be serious? Would he really force her to perform such menial tasks for the rest of her life, just to force her to cut off all ties to Goemon? True, Hideyoshi had made it clear that she could still call him a friend, but Yae was fairly certain that his ultimate goal was for her to stop spending time with him altogether. She couldn't know for sure whether Hideyoshi's threat was serious, and she wondered if it was worth the risk to test his patience even more than she already had. For the first time in years, Yae felt truly alone, with no idea of what the right thing to do might be.

A familiar voice awoke Yae from her daze. "Hey, Yae. I'm glad we found you. You don't have anything to do for work right now, do you?"

Yae looked up to see Goemon and Ebisumaru approach. They were followed by a mysterious figure in a green cloak and hood. Yae stood up quickly, cleared her throat, and shook her head.

"All right, we may have found someone who can help us find and defeat Makurayami," Goemon said, indicating the stranger following him. Yae leaned in closer to try and get a better look at this new helper.

"We may not be able to live in the same world yet, but I'm glad I could at least visit you again, Yae." Yae's eyes widened upon hearing this unusual phrase, as it triggered a dormant memory in her brain. She knew immediately who she was talking to.

"It's good to see you again, Suzaku," Yae said as she bowed politely.

Suzaku turned to Ebisumaru. "See? It's not that hard to remember."

"Hey, I got close, didn't I?" Ebisumaru said. "Give me a break, already." They walked off in the other direction, leaving Goemon and Yae alone.

"Suzaku's going to tell us everything at the Wise Man's house," Goemon said. "Sasuke should probably hear this too."

They started walking after Ebisumaru and Suzaku before Goemon spoke again. "Listen, Yae, about last night. I'm--"

Yae waved her hand and shook her head to stop him. "It's okay," she said. She wouldn't dare say anything more to him, or even look him in the eyes. Not after what she was thinking about at that moment.


	8. The Mission Briefing

"Come on now, pick up the pace. Go fetch me a wrench, will ya? No, I said the wrench. No, that's a screwdriver. Hey, careful with that! Sasuke, you'd better help them over there."

Despite his age, the Wise Man insisted on being as involved in all of his projects as he could manage. And because of his age, Sasuke had convinced him to build robots to assist him in such endeavors. The Wise Man often took a supervisory position, barking orders to Sasuke and the other robots as they did most of the hard work. He would still perform simple tasks that required little physical strength with his old zeal as long as his body would let him. When time was an important factor, as it was in this case, he would often work until his entire body was sore.

Sasuke was easily the most skilled of the Wise Man's robots. He would run back and forth between work stations and single-handedly complete the jobs the others could not. The downside of this impressive feat was that the other robots caught on to the fact that they wouldn't have to do as much work if Sasuke was there. They would be able to put in relatively little effort and the job would still end up getting finished. If it had not been for Sasuke, it could have taken months or even years to replace Miss Impact's arm at the rate they were going.

"How's it going up there, Sasuke?" the Wise man called. He had grown tired of waiting for his wrench and sat down in a reclining chair where he could survey all of his workers.

"Just fine, sir," was the clockwork ninja's response. "I think we can have this done pretty soon, if we're lucky." There was a long pause. "Wise Man, it looks like we've got company."

Sure enough, the Wise Man soon heard Ebisumaru's voice grow louder as he approached. "Do you think the Wise Man will have something to eat when we get there?"

Goemon's voice was next. "Are you kidding me? We just ate. Why isn't that vacuum you call a stomach ever satisfied? Suzaku, you can take your hood off, we're here."

"Hmm, nice place." This third voice was not familiar to the Wise Man.

He went around the side of the house to greet his guests. He gave a quick, angry glance at Goemon, whom he was still understandably upset with. Ebisumaru and Yae were with him, as was a woman with red hair and furry, pointed ears at the top of her head. "So, what brings all of you to my humble abode?" he asked.

"Wise Man, this is Suzaku." Goemon gestured toward the stranger, who nodded in the Wise Man's direction. "She's from the Underworld, and she says she can help us defeat Makurayami. We've decided this would be the best place to discuss it."

"The Underworld, you say? Fascinating." The Wise Man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you can go on in. I'll get Sasuke for you." He peeked around the side of his house and called "Sasuke!" with enough volume to startle everybody there. "He'll be with you in just a moment. In the meantime, go inside and make yourself at home." He unlocked the door for them and stood at the side.

Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Suzaku stepped inside, leaving Yae alone with the Wise Man. "Please don't try any funny stuff today, Wise Man," she said. "I'm really not in the mood to put up with it."

Yae walked towards the open door while the Wise Man walked past. Their shoulders bumped as they passed each other, and as he turned around to apologize, his hand managed to find its way down to her rear. As quick as lightning, Yae grabbed the Wise Man by his collar and lifted him off the ground. "Listen, you old, perverted freak," she said through clenched teeth. "I told you not to try anything like that, and I meant it. I'll say it only one more time, just to make sure it gets through that thick skull of yours. Don't try any funny stuff like that. Not now. Not ever. I don't care if it makes you feel young again, it's really starting to piss me off. Am I making myself clear?" The Wise Man nodded feebly and Yae put him back on solid ground before joining Goemon, Ebisumaru and Suzaku in the foyer.

---

Everybody sat on pillows that had been arranged around a low table. Tea had just been served, but Ebisumaru had been disappointed to learn that it would take much longer before food would be ready. They all stared patiently at Suzaku and waited for her to begin her explanation.

Suzaku calmly took a sip of her tea and began her story. "First of all, I would like to explain why I came to you in disguise. If Makurayami finds out I'm helping you, we may have a similar situation as we did when Dochuki captured me. There is no room for error this time, on any of our parts."

When Goemon and his friends first encountered Dochuki three years earlier, Suzaku had secretly helped them by giving them information on his plans and whereabouts. When Dochuki discovered this treachery, he kidnapped Suzaku and forced Goemon to give him the capsule that would house his spirit in exchange for Suzaku's life. Because of this, Dochuki's fate after their final battle could not be known for sure.

"I'll give you another sealing container for Makurayami and his children later," Suzaku continued. "No matter what happens, it is of the utmost importance that it remains intact and in your possession. Even if it means I lose my life, you have to promise me that you won't surrender it.

"Now then, I should probably explain what happened to Dochuki after you defeated him in battle. As you know, his spirit was released after his physical body was destroyed. The spirit of Dochuki was about to escape to find a new body--"

"When Ebisumaru, the Ninja of Justice, stepped in and used his charm to save the day, stopping the evil demon in his tracks!" Ebisumaru said proudly. This accomplishment was something Ebisumaru was particularly boastful about.

"Or so we thought," Suzaku said. "A small part of him must have survived and made it back to the Underworld, because when I returned there he was already being kept where he remains to this day. Because of his weakened state, the residents of the Underworld were easily able to encase him in a crystal prison. While inside, he is, for all intents and purposes, unconscious. However, his power recovers as he stays there, and he is almost certainly back to his full strength by now. Makurayami has come here to find someone to help him rescue his favorite son from that prison."

"Wait a minute," Goemon said. "Why would he need the help of someone here to release Dochuki?"

"And why would you put him in a prison where he can recover his strength like that?" Sasuke asked.

Suzaku answered Sasuke's question first. "That was unavoidable. This was the safest way we could hold him. This prison is very special. There's no way Makurayami and his children can possibly open it by themselves. It can only be opened by people with very specific qualities, which brings me to Goemon's question. Makurayami has the ability to possess people and fuse his soul with theirs."

"We know," said Goemon. "He possessed all of us, except Sasuke, of course, when we saw him on Mt. Fuji. He said something about none of us being a proper host."

"It was horrible," Ebisumaru said. He shuddered as he remembered the events of the day before. "It was cold and painful, and I felt as if everything keeping me alive was being sucked out of me."

Suzaku nodded. "It is thought to be a very excruciating process. People with especially strong wills can resist it, but this is also a strenuous ordeal."

"Yae was able to keep Makurayami from possessing her," Sasuke said. "It looked like she struggled against him with all her might, and was able to eject him from her body before he was able to control her. She was in a much worse condition than Goemon and Ebisumaru were right afterwards."

"But she got through it just fine, as always," Goemon said. "Tough as nails, I've always said." He gave Yae a hearty pat on the back, but she showed no visual response to any of this.

The Wise Man was grumbling under his breath. "Tough as nails...I'll say, threatening this old man and denying him his greatest pleasure in life like that."

"Anyway, he's searching for a person that fits a certain profile. He or she must be pure of heart and completely innocent. The fewer moral blemishes, the better. Chances are, Makurayami wasn't able to possess Goemon or Ebisumaru because they didn't fit the innocence qualification. The sum total of their past actions must have kept them from being of any real use to him."

"Heh heh, must've been the good ol' days, eh Ebisumaru?" Goemon said.

"Now that he knows he can't take control of any of you, he will see you as a threat. That being said, he'll probably try to find a host that has those qualities, but is also close to one or more of you. Your loved ones may very well be in great danger."

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke all looked worried at this last comment. Their minds raced as they tried to figure out how they could protect the ones they cared about. They knew there probably wouldn't be any way to stop Makurayami if they stayed here, but going on a long adventure didn't seem so desirable anymore.

"So, back to my story," Suzaku said. "Makurayami and his children are certainly not pure of heart or innocent, so there's no way any of them could release Dochuki from his captivity. But now that he's been brought into this world, he will soon find someone to help him carry out his plans. If you don't act soon, he's going to revive Dochuki and together they will take over both this world and the Underworld. They seek ultimate power, and once again we're counting on you to stop them.

"There is one way to defeat Makurayami. Scattered throughout Japan are four Jewels of Light. They build on each other's power, and the more you possess, the better chance you have of holding your own in a battle against him. You saw four strange colored lights on Mt. Fuji, correct? These are Makurayami's four youngest children, Dochuki's siblings. They have been dispatched to protect the Jewels of Light from any who would take them. Each jewel represents and enhances a certain quality of the bearer, and can be used to protect them from possession and drive Makurayami out of his host. In order to defeat Makurayami, you must find as many of the jewels as you can and use them against him.

"Wise Man, Goemon tells me you're quite the inventor. Do you think you could build a device to help them find these weapons? This should be able to help you design it." Suzaku reached into her cloak and pulled out a tiny shard of what must have, at one point, been a brilliant red gem. Light bounced off of it in every direction, giving it an otherworldly glow. Everybody in the room stared fixedly on it. It was this gem that finally caused Yae to show any expression. Neither she nor anybody else could take their eyes off of it.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Goemon said. "And those things will help us fight Makurayami?"

"They should," Suzaku replied. "You have to prove that you have the right to wield them, but I don't think you'd have any trouble with that. You've already established yourselves as heroes throughout all of Japan. Anyway, this is a piece of one of the jewels that somehow found its way to the Underworld. That was the first indication that something wasn't right. It turned out Makurayami and his children had just recently been summoned here."

"I've heard of these things," the Wise Man said as he took the shard from Suzaku. "I think I can make a gadget to react to the frequencies of the Jewels of Light. And I'll look through my books to see if I could find any more useful information for you guys."

"Thank you very much, Wise Man," Suzaku said with a smile. "Now, what do you say? Will you undertake this task?"

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke looked nervous. Yae kept her same expressionless frown. There was a long silence while all four of them shifted in their seats.

Goemon finally broke the silence. "Of course I'll probably go. But I'm not gonna lie, something you said earlier almost changed my mind. You said Makurayami might possess one of our loved ones, right? What if he got Omitsu? I'd never be able to forgive myself if I wasn't there to protect her from that monster."

"I feel the same way about the Wise Man," Sasuke said. "It's my inherent duty to protect him, after all."

"The timing couldn't have been worse for me," said Ebisumaru. "I just found out last night that Rie's pregnant. I don't know if it's such a great idea for me to leave on a long, dangerous adventure right now."

"Fine, think about it carefully. Decide for yourselves what's truly important in your lives," Suzaku said. "But time is of the essence, so meet back here first thing tomorrow morning."

"Wait, what about Yae? We haven't heard from her yet," Goemon said. "What do you say, Yae?"

Yae straightened up slightly after hearing someone ask her a direct question. "Huh? Oh, I--I don't think I can," she said distractedly. This was the first time she had spoken since entering the Wise Man's house.

Goemon was shocked to hear this reply. He expected her to at least say she would if work didn't interfere, but this uncharacteristically dreary response threw Goemon for a loop. "What? Why not?" he asked. "Do you have an important mission for the SSIN? It's not because you're scared, is it?"

Before Goemon had the chance to say another word, he found a sharp blade situated just below his chin. "Take. That. Back," Yae said, the venom practically dripping from every word as she uttered them. A furious rage burned in her eyes while she held Goemon's life in the palm of her hand.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing! You're gonna put an eye out!" Ebisumaru cried. The tip of Yae's katana was pretty close to where Ebisumaru's left eye had been seconds earlier.

Goemon looked down calmly at the blade. "Fine, I take that statement back." Yae slowly sheathed her sword. "So, what was that all about? Why are you backing out of this?" There was no answer. Yae just turned her head away from Goemon. "Come on, Yae, you can tell us. If it's about what I said last night, I'm sorry, I really am."

"No, that's not it," Yae said. Goemon couldn't remember Yae ever looking this sad. She started again. "I--" She took a breath to calm herself. "Hideyoshi's forbidden me from going on another adventure with you. He threatened to make me fill out paperwork for the rest of my life if I do." 

"That's it? I thought it was something serious." Goemon was one of the few people Yae had revealed her hatred of her boss to.

"This is serious, Goemon. I won't be an agent anymore. I'll be stuck in that damned building all day every day. I--I just don't know. I'll think about it, but I don't think it's a good idea to test his commitment to that threat."

Goemon looked briefly at Ebisumaru and Sasuke before turning back to Yae. "Okay, Yae. We've all kept our mouths shut about this long enough. Your job is taking over your life, and it's starting to worry all of us. I'm sure these last couple of days have been rough for you, and you're unsure of what you should do next. But know that we'll always be there for you. Remember, this is for the good of both worlds. Just think about all of that, and hopefully you'll make the right choice. If you decide not to go, I'll understand, but..." Goemon's voice trailed off. Yae was a very good friend of his, and he knew things just wouldn't be the same if she stayed behind.

Yae nodded slowly. "I'll be back tomorrow morning with an answer. Suzaku, thank you for all of the information." She walked out the door, her head down and her posture sloppy.

"We should get going, too, Ebisumaru," Goemon said.

"But the food hasn't come yet," Ebisumaru whined. "I'm hungry."

"Ebisumaru, I hate to burst your bubble, but the food's not coming. Come on, let's go." Goemon left the room, and a thoroughly disappointed Ebisumaru following closely behind.

Sasuke, Suzaku and the Wise Man were the only ones left in the room. "Well, I guess we should get started on that radar," Suzaku said. "Chances are, Makurayami's children have already found the Jewels of Light."


	9. What's Truly Important

"How's the food, Goemon?"

"Oh, it's great, Omitsu. Just like always."

Omitsu smiled warmly. She had just gotten off of work, and had surprised Goemon by bringing him some food she had cooked herself just before she left. Despite being an excellent cook, Omitsu refused to work at the tea house as a chef, saying she loved interacting with all the customers too much.

Goemon scarfed down what he could before leaning back with a satisfied grin on his face and letting out a deep sigh. This meal consisted of a mix of nearly every item from the restaurant Goemon had ever told Omitsu he liked, meaning there would be a great deal of leftovers afterwards. If only she had known that he would probably be gone for a long while starting the next day. Goemon, who was still unsure of whether he should really go, now saw the perfect opportunity to get an opinion from the only person in the world who could help him decide.

"Omitsu, I need to talk to you about something. Something important."

A look of concern crossed Omitsu's face. "What is it?" She sat down next to Goemon and awaited a response.

Goemon tried to think of the best way to explain his dilemma. He didn't want to worry her with too many details. "Well, it looks like we finally get to try to save Japan again."

"So what's the problem? You should go."

"I know, but...I'm worried about you. More than ever before. There's a really good chance you could get hurt this time. I'd be devastated if something happened to you. Omitsu, I can stay here and do everything in my power to make sure you're safe. Just say the word and I'll stay behind and protect you." In truth, Goemon was pretty sure he couldn't do much to stop Makurayami. But he owed it to Omitsu to at least offer to be there and do what he could to help her.

Omitsu bit her lower lip and looked down at the floor. There was a moment when she was completely still before she leaned in and kissed Goemon on the cheek. "I love you," she said.

"I know. I love you, too." Goemon had not realized the true power of these words until he had heard it from Omitsu on a nearly daily basis. "That's why part of me wants to remain here at your side." He reached out his arm, and Omitsu slid under it.

"But if you love me as much as I love you, you should know that, above all else, I want you to be happy. And I know that serving others is what makes you happy. You may enjoy the promise of a new adventure or the thrill of a good fight. But in the end, it all boils down to the fact that you want to help as many people as you can in their never ending quest for happiness. It's what makes you such a wonderful person.

"Goemon, do you ever think about that night three years ago? Our first date, I guess you could call it."

"All the time."

"Then you'd remember that you promised to come to my rescue anytime I was in trouble. You said that if anybody tries to hurt me, it would just give you more incentive to punish them. Heh, I guess you can think of me as your reason for fighting. It really makes me feel honored."

"Hmm...Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks Omitsu." He pulled Omitsu in closer. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Goemon, I want to talk about that night a bit more. I--I don't really know what I expected when you asked me to go stargazing with you. I just accepted because I missed you so much, and I wanted to hear the story of your latest adventure. At the time, I wondered why you didn't invite anybody else."

"I wanted to spend the evening with you. Alone."

"Yeah, I know that now. I've never told you or anybody else about this before, but it was all I could think about the next day. I was talking to myself about it the whole way home from work. Why me? Why would you possibly be interested in me? I thought I would be a horrible girlfriend for you. There are so many women out there who would be a better fit. So many women who are more beautiful and more intelligent than me, and who wouldn't end up inevitably being kidnapped so many times. I mean, take Yae for example. Why not her? She deserves to be with someone as great as you."

There was a long silence as Goemon's hand moved up and down Omitsu's arm. Finally, he spoke. "To be honest, there may have been a time when I would have asked Yae to do something like that. But that was a really long time ago. Her job has consumed so much of her life, I'm glad I never did. I wouldn't be able to stand it, and things just wouldn't be the same between us. I don't spend too much time thinking about what could have happened because I have no regrets about what actually did happen. But the more I saw you and got to know you better, the more I fell in love with you. Seeing your smiling face was always the highlight of my day. Nobody else has ever had that strong of an effect on me, so there's no doubt in my mind that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And you underestimate your intelligence. If it wasn't for your advice, I still wouldn't know whether to leave or stay here. Omitsu, you should realize that you're a more wonderful person than you give yourself credit for. There's nobody in this entire world I'd rather spend my time with."

---

Ebisumaru sat at the table and played with the little bit of noodles left in his bowl. It turned out he was not nearly as hungry as he thought he was; he had only managed to eat the contents of this one bowl and an entire plate of dumplings. His wife found this highly unusual, and took him aside later that night.

"What's bothering you, dear? And don't say 'nothing,' I'll know you're lying."

Unfortunately, "nothing" was exactly what Ebisumaru was planning to say. "Well, it's just..." He was having difficulty putting his worries into words.

"Ebisumaru, please tell me what's bothering you. You hardly touched your food, something's definitely wrong. Please don't make me sit up all night worrying about you."

"Well, it looks like Japan may be in trouble again. But I'm not sure I should go this time. I mean, do you think it's a good idea for me to leave now? You're pregnant, after all."

"What difference does that make? You are Ebisumaru, the Ninja of Justice. I think you need to uphold that title. And what if you don't go? You'd let Goemon go on an adventure without you? That doesn't sound like you. What happened, did you have a fight?"

"No, Goemon and I are just as good of friends as we always were. But there's a good chance you could get hurt if I don't stay behind and protect you. I can't let that happen. I'm the only member of the group that has a wife and kids to to think about." He looked into his wife's eyes and saw what he had to do. "That's it, I've made up my mind. I'm not leaving your side. It's for your own good, and for the good of the kids." Ebisumaru walked towards Mao's bedroom, where the child was waiting for a bedtime story.

Rie grabbed Ebisumaru's arm and pulled him back, a stern look on her face. "Ebisumaru, please go with Goemon. I know you want to protect your family, and that's very admirable. But what about Japan? What would they do if you weren't there to save them?" 

"Goemon won't be alone. There'll be two others with him. And I'm sure Japan will be just fine without my help. I think it's about time for the Ninja of Justice to retire."

"Ebisumaru, listen to me. You're going, and that's that. If you want to protect us, why not everybody else in Japan? I can't believe you're going to pass on an opportunity to do something you love so much after such a long vacation. Yes, I know you still love it, no matter how much you might deny it. And heaven knows you could use the exercise. Remember, helping others is the greatest thing you can do in this world. If you don't do this for me, do it for Goemon and your other friends. I'm sure they'll want you to go, too. You're a vital member of a team, and they're inevitably going to need your help. Just think about what I've told you. I think the right path should be fairly obvious."

She let go of her husband's arm and went to her own bedroom. Ebisumaru stood deep in thought for a moment. "All right. I'll do it," he whispered. "Thank you, Rie."

He stepped through the door into his daughter's room and was greeted with an energetic "Daddy!". "So, where did I leave off last night?" Ebisumaru asked enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, I remember. So, we were just about to cross the bridge leading to Kyushu when all of a sudden, it began floating into the sky!"

---

Sasuke paced outside of the Wise Man's room. The Wise Man had summoned him, but for the first time since his creation, he felt no compelling reason to accept the mission that had been assigned to him that day. He had not expressed these concerns to the Wise Man yet and was currently wondering if that would be a good idea. All the possible scenarios went through his head, with the Wise Man's reactions ranging from understanding to fury. Still without a good guess of what his creator would say in response to such a dilemma, Sasuke opened the door and stepped through. "You summoned me, Wise Man?"

The Wise Man and Suzaku were looking at something inside the drawer of the Wise Man's desk. They quickly shut it when they heard Sasuke enter. "Ah, Sasuke, there you are," the Wise Man said. "Yes, I needed to talk to you about something."

"All right, I'm gonna go back to the Underworld," Suzaku said. "I've been gone for a long time, and I don't want anybody down there to get suspicious. I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning to see everybody off." There was a puff of smoke, and when it disappeared Suzaku was nowhere to be seen.

"Now then, Sasuke," the Wise Man said as he sat on a pillow on the floor. "Suzaku wanted me to ask you something unusual, and I want you to think carefully before you answer. Do you want to accept this mission to find the Jewels of Light and fight Makurayami?"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Wise Man had broached the very topic he wanted to talk about. "Well, of--of course I want to." Even the most gullible person would have known that statement was a lie.

The Wise Man raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You don't sound too sure of yourself. I want you to be totally honest with me, Sasuke. Do you really want to do this?"

Sasuke had to think very carefully about what to say next. He couldn't tell what the Wise Man intended to accomplish with this question. "Well, sir..." He thought for a moment longer before continuing. "There is a small part of me that doesn't want to do this. When Suzaku said that those we care about may be in especially great danger, doubt entered my mind. It is my duty to protect you, no matter what. I wouldn't be able to do that if I embark on this journey."

The Wise Man let out a hearty laugh. "Sasuke, my boy, you continue to astound me everyday. I can assure you that I'll be fine. I'm sure I wouldn't be a good host for Makurayami, anyway."

"Perhaps, but it's not just Makurayami. Wise Man, please take no offense from this, but you continue to grow older everyday. I can be of assistance to you here. The other robots are lazy, but I'll always serve you faithfully and skillfully."

"And that's great Sasuke, but I can't ask you to stay behind on my behalf. Remember that you do this for our entire world, and the Underworld, too. You should look at the larger picture instead of constantly thinking of how to help me. I'll be fine here with the other robots. Speaking of which, I think I hear one coming in right now."

Indeed, small clanging sounds could be heard just outside the door, and a female robot in a purple maid's outfit came in, balancing a tray with two cups and a steaming kettle of tea in her petite hands. "Some tea for you, Wise Man," she said. Her voice had a very metallic quality, unlike Sasuke's nearly human tones. She came forward, but tripped after several steps. The tray and all of its contents flew out of her hands and hit the floor with a loud crash. Sasuke and the Wise Man quickly got up and narrowly avoided being soaked in tea or hit by a cup.

"Now look what you've done!" the Wise Man shouted. "Go, get a towel and clean up this mess!" The maid robot nodded and ran out of the room. As soon as she was out of earshot, the Wise Man got on his knees in front of Sasuke. "Oh, Sasuke, please don't go! These robots won't be able to take care of me like you can. I only asked you if you really wanted to go because Suzaku wanted to be sure you were really willing. I told her I didn't want you to leave me, and that you would do what I ask you to. So please stay here and help me, I'm begging you!" The Wise Man had managed to say all of that within the span of about seven seconds. He gripped Sasuke's ankles in his hands and started whining like a sad puppy.

Sasuke was torn. His master was now not only giving his permission for Sasuke to remain behind, but he was on his knees begging him to do so. But at the same time, he now remembered what it was that he was really built to do. "Wise Man, I've made my decision," he said. "My duty is not limited to serving only you. I must go on this journey to save both worlds. That is my purpose. It is my destiny."

The Wise Man regained his composure and stood up. "Very good, Sasuke. You passed the test with flying colors."

Sasuke was confused. "Did you just say that this was all a test? Was the maid a part of it, too?"

The Wise Man nodded. "Both Suzaku and I were worried you would want to back out of this. We couldn't have that happen, though. You're going to be the most vital part of this mission. I thought I would take this opportunity to remind you of what is really your most important function: helping those throughout Japan who cannot help themselves." He walked to the desk he and Suzaku were hovering over minutes earlier and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a rectangular piece of metal with some chips and wires on the other side. "This is a radar that will help you find the Jewels of Light. You're going to have to be extra careful on this mission, because I'm installing it where your jetpack used to be. All right, I'm gonna shut you down so that I can set this thing up." The Wise Man walked behind Sasuke, opened up his back, and flipped some switches. The room grew darker and eventually became pitch black and silent for Sasuke.

---

The smell of incense drifted up to Yae's nostrils as she pulled aside the curtain to the fortune teller's. Yae had come to the Plasma Fortune Teller in desperation, still unable to see the best path to take. This place always gave her the creeps, but she had spent too much time thinking about her problem on her own without being able to come up with a solution. It was time to get an outside opinion.

Yae carefully inched down the aisle. The room was darkened so much, she couldn't see two inches in front of her nose. She briefly considered the possibility that the fortune teller had closed up shop for the day, and decided to leave after convincing herself that this was so.

Just as she turned to leave, a loud call of "PLASMA!" echoed throughout the room. Yae screamed as bright lights suddenly shone on her face and throughout the room, strange music accompanied by nonsensical lyrics began playing, and her heart stopped all at the same time. It had been a couple of years since Yae visited this eccentric mystic, and she had forgotten just how startling the whole experience really was.

Then she saw the Plasma Fortune Teller walking towards her on a raised platform. He wore a purple sack with two eye holes and various symbols that were unfamiliar to Yae. His arms waved wildly and he mumbled in a language that only he knew. Yae knew this part of the act was new, and she didn't particularly enjoy it.

"Young lady, give me 15 ryo and I will read your fortune," he said. Most of his words were drawn out, and his volume fluctuated throughout the sentence. Yae reached into her pocket and put some gold coins at his feet. The fortune teller swept the money behind him with his foot and continued his chant. "Hum-baba, hum-baba, hum-baba. PLASMA!" This sudden shout again startled Yae, and many of her hairs now stood on end as evidence of this.

"So, what do you see?" Yae asked after recovering from her fright and straightening out her disheveled hairs.

"I see a turbulent internal conflict within you. You are forced to choose between the two things you love the most, and it is making you miserable."

"Yes, I already knew that. What should I do about it? What's the best thing to do in this situation?"

"Huuummmm...I cannot help you solve this dilemma. You must make your own choice after careful reflection. Decide what is of greatest value to you. Now go, and live a full and happy life."

"That's it? You're not going to give me any real advice? I need you to help me make this choice." Yae was upset, but was able to contain her anger fairly well so far.

"If you like, I will read your fortune again for another 15 ryo. But I warn you, your fate probably has not changed in such a short time."

Yae just stared at this strange man with her mouth wide open. She shook her head rapidly and glared at him. "All right, I've had enough. This was a complete waste of my time. I want my money back."

The music stopped just as suddenly as it had started. The fortune teller suddenly became deathly serious and stared down at Yae with contempt. "No refunds. Now scram!" Two burly men with red and black masks appeared out of nowhere and pushed Yae along the aisle until she was back on the street, still completely unsure if her initial instinct was indeed the best thing to do.


	10. Let's Start Our Journey

Goemon and Ebisumaru arrived at the Wise Man's home about an hour after sunrise. They each had a small sack slung over their shoulders, filled with whatever supplies they felt would be necessary for the journey ahead of them. Goemon would have bet 500 ryo that Ebisumaru had packed mostly food.

Goemon was grinning from ear to ear. He was finally getting the adventure he had been waiting for for so long. He just hoped it wouldn't turn out to be a one-day-disaster like the Mt. Fuji investigation.

Sasuke greeted Goemon and Ebisumaru and brought them around the back of the house, where Suzaku, the Wise Man and Yae were waiting for them. Yae looked tired and had not brought any extra supplies with her, but Goemon assumed just by her presence that she had decided to accompany them. He smiled in her direction, but received only a blank stare in return.

"Here, Goemon. This is the sealing container I told you about." Suzaku walked up to Goemon and placed a white capsule shaped like a pear in his hand. "When you remove the top half, a vacuum will suck in any weakened demons you point it at. You will almost certainly encounter Dochuki's siblings on your journey. After you defeat them in battle, you must capture them in that container. Do the same for Makurayami. It's the only way to make sure none of them escape and wreak havoc like Dochuki almost did. And remember, no matter what, you must not surrender that to anybody. They can be released just as easily as they were captured."

"Thank you Suzaku," Goemon said. "But how are we going to find the Jewels of Light?"

"I'll take this one, Suzaku," the Wise Man said. "Sasuke, would you step forward, please?" Sasuke did as he was asked. The Wise Man cleared his throat and began speaking in a boastful tone. "I have installed a radar in our little friend here that detects the energy waves sent out by the Jewels of Light. Sasuke, if you would be so kind as to turn around." Again, he obeyed the Wise Man's orders. On his back, where his jetpack had been two days earlier, was a rectangular bulge. It was completely green to match Sasuke's tunic, save for a gray dot towards the top. "All you have to do is pull this little antenna out..." The Wise Man grabbed the gray dot and extracted it until it extended fully in an upward diagonal direction. "...and Sasuke will be able to tell you in which direction you should be heading. Once you get really close, Sasuke shouldn't need to use the antenna anymore. I'll look through some of my books to see if I can find any information on the locations of the jewels, but until then this'll be the only tool you have to help you find them, so be extra careful with it. I'm talking to you Goemon."

Goemon rolled his eyes in exasperation while the antenna automatically collapsed and became the gray dot again. "Thank you Wise Man," he said. "Well, if there's nothing else we need to discuss before we get going, I have some food here for Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae from Omitsu. She gives everyone her best wishes, and says she'll be awaiting our triumphant return." Goemon put his bag on the floor and opened it up. A pleasant aroma floated up from within. He reached inside and pulled out three neatly wrapped boxes, each with a name tag identifying their intended recipient.

Goemon handed the first package to Ebisumaru, who licked his lips and snatched it from him in the blink of an eye. He sniffed it and shook it, but just as he was about to open it, Goemon gave him a disapproving stare and said it would be wise to save it for when he really needed it. "But I really need it now," Ebisumaru protested. He tore off the paper and began eating one of the plum rice balls inside.

Sasuke was next. Upon receiving the package, he bowed politely and said, "Thank you, Mr. Goemon. And be sure to give Miss Omitsu my thanks when we return."

"I sure will, Sasuke," said Goemon. "Okay, Yae, this one's for you."

"Keep it," she said curtly. "I'm not going."

Goemon stopped, nodded slowly, and eventually put Yae's package in his sack before swinging it over his shoulder again. He let out a long breath. "Hmm...If you don't want to go, that's fine. But I'm a bit disappointed. It's just not gonna be the same without you, Yae."

"I'm really sorry, Goemon. Just know that I wish all of you the best of luck. I hope you're successful in your mission." Everything Yae said sounded like it had been repeated so many times, the words had lost all meaning for her.

Several minutes later, the time finally came for Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke to depart on their newest adventure. Sasuke was able to use his new radar to inform everyone that the first jewel was somewhere around the mountain range to the west. Suzaku bid them farewell and disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the ninjas left without wasting another minute.

"Say, you know what we need right now?" Ebisumaru asked. "A song! Come on, Goemon, I know you remember the words."

"Oh no, not this again," Goemon said to Sasuke. "You can sing it if you want, Ebisumaru. But you'll be singing it alone." If Goemon wasn't in such a good mood, he would have used all his energy to stop Ebisumaru from singing. If Yae had decided to come with them, he may have even decided to join the Ninja of Justice in his song.

"Fine, your loss." Ebisumaru cleared his throat and vocalized. "Fight on, fight on, never giving up!" His singing voice was obnoxious, but he put his whole heart into it.

"I don't know about you, Sasuke, but I'm really excited to get this thing underway," Goemon said. He had to speak up to be heard over Ebisumaru's singing. "Lead the way, buddy."

"Even if the harsh winds were to take you away, live your life the way you want it. That is the destiny for many." Ebisumaru's jolly mood meant the volume of the song would keep increasing with time.

"We shouldn't have to go very far," Sasuke said. "The readings are pretty strong already."

Ebisumaru was just getting to the end of his melody. "Let's start our journey as we whistle along, going now! All right, one more time! Fight on, fight on..."

"I don't know why he likes that song so much," Goemon said. "The lyrics don't even make any sense."

Meanwhile, Yae and the Wise Man were waving at a now distant Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke. Yae sighed as she watched them embark on a journey without her. "Do you regret your decision?" the Wise Man asked. The look on Yae's face made it obvious she had some doubts about it. "Let me rephrase the question. Do you think you'll someday look back on this and wish you had gone with them?"

Yae looked down at the floor and closed her eyes. She knew what the Wise Man wanted to hear, but her training as an agent for the SSIN taught her not to show any form of weakness. She raised her head and simply answered "No."

---

Goemon stood on a boulder and surveyed the area. Mountains of all sizes surrounded them, and one of the Jewels of Light was apparently hidden somewhere among them.

"It's very close," Sasuke said quietly. All three ninjas had the feeling they weren't alone, but they saw no enemy and no jewel. Goemon and Ebisumaru put their packs in the top branch of a nearby tree in preparation for a surprise attack. Fighting while wearing them would prove a difficult task.

"I don't see anything unusual around here," Goemon whispered in a barely audible tone. "Are you sure we're close?"

"We should be. My sensors indicate it should be near this mountain here, but I can't see it."

Ebisumaru looked straight up, but he still couldn't see the top of this mountain. He let out a long, impressed whistle. "We don't have to climb up that thing do we?"

"Unlikely," Sasuke said. He moved right up to and put his hand on the mountain. In the next moment, the ground below Sasuke's feet moved in a wavelike motion. He flew in the air and hit the rock with his head before falling back down. Rocks crumbled upon the impact of both the shockwave and Sasuke's head, revealing a blinding yellow light.

"There! That's gotta be it!" Goemon said. "Come on, Ebisumaru. Help me get Sasuke to his feet so we can dig it out before we have to deal with whatever caused that."

"I think it's already too late for that, Goemon," Ebisumaru said. He was pointing and staring wide-eyed at the source of the shockwave. It was a man with a ridiculously muscular upper body which contained a strange red marking that Goemon knew he had seen before, but couldn't quite remember from where. His skin was a dark shade of goldenrod, and his hair was black and styled similarly to Goemon's. He punched the ground twice, causing two more waves that sent Goemon and Ebisumaru flying to the area where Sasuke had landed moments earlier.

The man jumped to that same area in one bound, shaking the earth as he landed. They could now see his face clearly. His brown eyes stared down at his two victims, and his mouth formed a malicious grin, revealing two long fangs. There was now no doubt in Goemon's mind about the identity of this individual.

"You! You must be a demon, one of Makurayami's sons," Goemon said. He got up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Ah, you're not as stupid as you look," the demon said. "Or maybe you are, if you came here seeking the Topaz of Power. Of course, you can have it if you defeat me in battle. But judging by your laughably puny size, that's probably not going to happen."

"Watch what you say, you oversized weirdo."

"Hold on, Goemon, you have to come up with a different nickname for these guys," Ebisumaru said as he rose to his feet. "The four Peach Mountain guys were 'weirdoes', remember? This guy's a--a freak! Yeah, that's it! You and your siblings are all freaks!"

The demon let out a few low chuckles. "I won't argue with the fact that my siblings are freaks, but certainly not me, the almighty Daichi. You will never be able to match my strength and defeat me. I will destroy all of you and prove to my father that I am the greatest of his children, not that pathetic fool Dochuki. But something is missing...Wasn't there a young woman with you at Mt. Fuji? What, did she die from the exhaustion of trying to resist my father's power?"

Goemon charged at Daichi with his pipe at the ready, but Daichi simply batted the pest to the left. Goemon rubbed his swollen face and stood up. "We'll prove to you that it takes more than brute strength to beat us, Daichi. We will destroy you, and your father, too. Just you wait and see, you freak."

"Even if by some miracle you are able to best me in battle, you'll never be able to defeat my father. He wields power that a maggot like you can't possibly comprehend." Sasuke ran towards Daichi with his kunai out, but a strong punch sent him flying to the demon's right. "But enough talk. Let's fight."


	11. Reflection

Yae sat at the table, quill in hand, staring at the blank parchment in front of her. After sitting and doing absolutely nothing for some time, she decided that poetry might be a good way to alleviate her boredom and calm her racing mind. But her mind was as empty as the scroll before her. No divine inspiration came upon her as she tried to think of a subject unrelated to the events of the past two days to write about. She huffed as she put the quill on the table and got up from her chair to find something else to occupy her time.

Yae found her way to the washroom and splashed her face with some cold water. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and let out a long sigh. Her eyes were sad and tired, and all of her facial features seemed to droop. Even her hair lacked its usual character. She grabbed a brush and moved it through her hair mechanically, staring directly at the eyes of her mirror image. Suddenly, she stopped, her mouth half open and the brush situated halfway down her thick green hair. "_Is this right?_" she thought. "_Shouldn't I be helping Goemon?_"

"No," she said aloud. "I made the right choice." She put the brush back on the shelf and walked out of the washroom and into her bedroom.

"_But they might need you. What if they're in trouble? What will you do if they never come back? You would be--_"

Yae shook her head rapidly to stop herself from finishing that thought. She couldn't bear to think of something like that right now. It would bring too much pain, and she had had more than enough of that recently. Besides, Yae had faith in the abilities of Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke.

She scanned her bookshelf to begin her next attempt at finding a worthwhile activity. Yae had an impressive collection of books, but for some reason a thick, red, dusty book caught her eye. She pulled it out and looked at the title: "Memories with Team Go." "Team Go" was Yae's nickname for the group that included Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke, as well as the others who were usually involved in their adventures, such as Omitsu and the Wise Man. Her eyes widened as she remembered how special this book had been to her at one point in time. Until she held it in her hands, she had forgotten that it even existed. "_Oh, this is--_"

She sat on her bed and opened to the first page. What greeted her was a photograph with the caption "After Defeating the Western General, Magginesu" written in Yae's neat handwriting. Yae studied the picture above it and the smallest hint of a smile formed on her face as the memories of this incident rushed back to her. The picture was taken shortly after Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke defeated General Magginesu, who had kidnapped Omitsu and taken control of Impact. Everybody was in it...well, everybody except Yae. There was Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, the Wise Man, and Omitsu, still in the bunny suit Magginesu had forced her to wear, posing in the back. Impact stood behind the building everybody else was standing on, the usual grin on his face even though there was a large hole where his eye used to be.

Yae's mind wandered to the time when she had first decided to keep a collection of photographs and other memorabilia related to her adventures with Goemon. It had been shortly after Goemon gave her this picture, as she wasn't present when it was actually taken. Yae had a feeling their paths would inevitably cross time and time again, so she decided to make this scrapbook dedicated just to the time she spent with anybody in the group. Flipping through the pages, she could see that she had not gathered nearly as many memories as she had hoped she would when she started it.

Yae turned to the next page and saw that the next photograph was titled "The Thanks We Get For 'Saving' Kyushu." It featured Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae running from something, all with looks of extreme panic on their faces. Ebisumaru was missing a sandal and lagging slightly behind everyone else. Yae's eyes moved to the right side of the picture, where she could see what it was they were all trying to escape from. It was a large, unruly mob of women, all outraged at the people who defeated Spring Breeze Dancin' and Kitty Lily and denied them the chance to watch their musical every day for the rest of their lives.

Yae's eyebrow slowly rose. "_Come to think of it, I don't remember anybody taking this picture. Where did it come from?_" She thought about this perplexing mystery for some time before shrugging her shoulders and turning the page again.

The third and final picture in the album came with the caption "Wise Man's One-Year Anniversary." The Wise Man was never married as far as Yae knew, so she assumed this title referred to his house staying up for one full year, a record ever since he met Goemon. That meant this picture was taken a little more than one year after defeating Dochuki.

This was a picture that truly spoke a thousand words to Yae. Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, Yae, and Omitsu all sat around a table after finishing a hearty meal. Goemon was telling a story about one of his earliest adventures, with Ebisumaru chiming in every so often to correct him or elaborate on an interesting point. His tale was apparently quite funny, as Yae and Omitsu were laughing. Sasuke was holding a cup of green tea and listening to Goemon with great interest. Yae looked down at the picture and wished she felt as happy now as she looked in there.

A card was situated in the upper corner of the opposite page. It read:

May the bonds of friendship forged between all of us remain as strong as the foundation of this house, and may good fortune continue to shine on us all. -Wise Man

"_Damn that swine Hideyoshi. I still can't believe he would separate me from my friends like this. I could be doing something I love with them. But instead, I've given in to his orders so easily, and I'm sitting here feeling miserable because of it._"

That was the moment when Yae came to an important realization. She lost all feeling in her fingers, and the photo album slipped and fell to the floor. "I've made a huge mistake," she said to herself. She grabbed her katana and her bazooka, which were resting at the foot of her bed, and ran out the front door.

---

Daichi jumped in the air and floated there for several seconds. His fist began to glow a bright yellow, and with a powerful "Yah!" he slammed it into the ground. A circular shockwave emanated from the point of impact and moved towards Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke. They deftly moved to higher ground and prepared to retaliate.

Sasuke lit a firecracker bomb and hurled it at his foe as he jumped backwards onto the edge of a nearby cliff. Daichi quickly stepped to the side to dodge the projectile and turned around just in time to see Goemon leaping at him. His pipe was raised over his head, and he swung it down right on to Daichi's face. The irritated demon grabbed Goemon by the neck and threw him against a boulder at the foot of the nearest mountain. The dazed ninja eventually got to his feet and stumbled around, but was soon met with a fist as big as his head.

Sasuke and Ebisumaru saw that their friend needed their help. Ebisumaru picked Sasuke up and threw him like a football, sending him zooming towards his target. Sasuke dug his kunai into Daichi's back just as he was about to deliver another blow to Goemon. Daichi let out a scream that sounded like a lion's roar and reached behind his back to pull the clockwork ninja out. He tossed Sasuke to the floor like a rag doll, where he joined a barely conscious Goemon.

Daichi breathed heavily and angrily as he moved his foot back to give Sasuke a swift kick in the side. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his leg and try to pull him back. Daichi turned his head to see Ebisumaru holding his dancer's ribbon and pulling on it with all his might. However, the demon was much too heavy for Ebisumaru to handle. Daichi swung his leg forward, kicking Sasuke and sending Ebisumaru sliding towards the mountain at the same time. Ebisumaru crashed headfirst into the side of the mountain.

"I'm going to enjoy killing all of you," Daichi said. Goemon and Ebisumaru tried to get on their feet, but they found it difficult to stay standing. They were both bruised all over their faces, and blood dripped down Goemon's cheek and out of his mouth. Sasuke was kneeling next to them and looked as if his joints were not allowing him to stand up any further. "Prepare to die, you maggots."

Daichi bent down and reached into the ground. He pulled out a gargantuan boulder, leaving a gaping hole between him and his foes. He lifted the rock over his head and prepared to hurl it down at them.

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke looked up at the awesome power of their foe and realized that they had no idea just what they were dealing with until this point. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not ready to die yet," Ebisumaru said. In the next second, he seemed to vanish into thin air.

Daichi was surprised by this sudden disappearance. He looked around for the missing Ebisumaru, but couldn't find him and focused his attention on Goemon and Sasuke instead. "Well, he will just have to suffer a more painful death later." Daichi raised the boulder back over his head and smiled as he prepared to slam it down onto the two ninjas. Goemon and Sasuke winced as they waited for the end.

But it didn't come. Goemon opened one eye and saw Ebisumaru's ribbon wrapped around one of Daichi's arms. "All right, Ebisumaru!" Goemon said. Daichi was losing his balance and eventually fell backwards. The boulder rolled out of his hands and towards a panicking Ebisumaru. "Run, Ebisumaru!" Goemon yelled after him. But Ebisumaru didn't have to wait for Goemon's instructions to sprint away from the approaching stone. Daichi chased after both of them, tearing up the ground as he glided inches above it. There was a loud crash in that general direction several seconds later.

"I don't know how that happened, but we'd better go after them," Goemon said. "Come on, Sasuke!" 

Sasuke slowly got up. His joints squeaked, but after flexing his legs he was able to stand up straight. "Using the Mini-Ebisu ninjutsu; very clever, Ebisumaru." They both ran in the direction of their friend and their foe.

They didn't have to go very far before they found the boulder resting against the side of a rock wall. A giant crack had formed down the middle. They had hit a dead end. Goemon looked to his right to see Ebisumaru running in a big circle as Daichi stood at the center and moved his arms to summon stalagmites that tried to skewer him. Daichi could have easily timed these attacks to kill Ebisumaru, but seemed to get more joy from watching the overweight ninja run for his life. Goemon removed a coin from an inside pocket and held it close to his body. The coin became engulfed in flames, and Goemon threw it at Daichi. The flaming ryo hit Daichi on the side of his head and stopped the stalagmite attack. He turned to stare at Goemon angrily.

"All right. No more games," he said. Daichi ascended several feet in the air. A yellow orb formed in his hands and grew larger at an alarming rate. Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke watched their foe and waited for the inevitable attack. When the yellow orb grew almost as large as the boulder from before, Daichi threw it straight down, where it dissolved into the ground. He remained where he was, and Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke took fighting stances, ready for whatever was coming their way. There was a moment where everybody remained completely still before Goemon stood straight up and lowered his weapon.

"Nothing's happening. Looks like a dud, eh Daichi?" The demon simply widened his evil grin.

Suddenly, the ground below Goemon's feet began to shake violently. A crack formed where the ground had absorbed the ball. It extended in both directions and widened, dividing Goemon and Sasuke from Ebisumaru. The shaking increased in intensity, and Goemon lost his balance and fell in the chasm, followed by Sasuke and then Ebisumaru.


	12. Redemption

Goemon had managed to survive by grabbing onto a thick tree root not too far from the surface. He figured the root would hold for quite a while, but began to doubt that after Sasuke tumbled after him and grabbed his legs. Fortunately, the root showed little sign of stress with this additional weight. However, after Ebisumaru dropped into the chasm and grabbed Sasuke's legs, Goemon knew they were all doomed. The combined downward force of all three ninjas dragged the root through the dirt a few inches before stopping suddenly.

Daichi came back down onto solid ground and looked down at Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke. "What a shame. I was really hoping I would be able to kill you myself," he said sadistically. The root moved down another inch. "But I think your fat friend there will have to finish the job for me. Anyway, I'm in a hurry, so I'll just grab the Topaz of Power and be on my way."

"Wait!" Sasuke called after him. "What would you want the jewel for?"

"That's really none of your business, maggot. And besides, you're really not in a good position to be asking questions." Daichi turned and walked away, leaving Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke hanging on to an unstable tree root for dear life.

"Well guys, if you've got any good ideas for how we're gonna get out of here, now would be the time to speak up," Goemon said. "You know, Sasuke, if your jetpack was still working, now would be a great time to use it."

"Well, it's not," Sasuke said. "I don't even see the point of saying something like that."

"Hey, you know what this whole situation reminds me of?" Ebisumaru asked. Goemon had a feeling he knew where this was going. "The chasm swallowing us is like me eating my dinner. Isn't that funny? I get to spend my final moments as a metaphorical form of my favorite thing in the world."

If Goemon had a free hand, he would have slapped his forehead in exasperation before using it to smack some sense into Ebisumaru. How could he be thinking of food at a time like this? Goemon looked up at the lifesaving root, which had just made a small cracking sound. "Guys, I think this is it. I just want to let both of you know that it's been--Aah!" The root broke and Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke began to fall.

They came to a quick stop again, though Ebisumaru continued to scream hysterically. "Aaaahhhh! Aaaahhhh! Wait, what's going on? Why did we stop?"

Goemon felt a hand wrapped around his wrist and looked up. His mood suddenly brightened as he realized who his savior was. "Yae!" he said.

Yae was lying on her stomach on the edge of the chasm and had managed to grab Goemon a split second after the root broke. She shushed at Goemon and realized the three ninjas she was holding onto were dragging her closer and closer to the death of them all. She jammed her katana into the ground next to her and held onto it with her free hand. "Alright, I'm gonna pull you out. Just hold on tight," she whispered.

Using the sword as a weight to keep her on solid ground, Yae kept a firm grip on Goemon's wrist and pulled in spurts. Progress was slow, but after several minutes Goemon was able to grab the edge of the chasm and add extra upward force to help Yae pull them out. Eventually, all four ninjas were together again on the edge of the wide gap.

Goemon and Yae were sweating and panting heavily. They had both plopped down to the ground immediately after this ordeal. "Yae. I've never been so happy to see you," Goemon said in-between heavy breaths. Yae nodded, but made no sound except for a few coughs and her own heavy breaths.

"Come on, we've gotta stop Daichi from taking the Topaz of Power," Sasuke said.

"You mean that huge guy by one of the mountains?" Yae asked. "He's been pounding away at it for over five minutes. Let me handle this." Yae got up and ran, apparently completely recovered from her exhaustion.

Yae peeked around the side of the rock wall and saw that Daichi was, fortunately, still smashing the mountain and breaking it apart. A radiant yellow glow could be seen at the foot of the mountain.

She crept forward and hid behind a nearby tree to get a better look at her opponent. The Jewel of Light was almost completely unearthed. After one more solid hit, it fell to the floor. "_Excellent. He's already dug it out for us._" Yae unsheathed her blade and slowly moved forward. Stealth was of the utmost importance. Daichi knelt down to pick up the gem. "_If I can just keep moving forward without making a sound, I'll--_" At that moment, Yae stepped on a branch that made a loud cracking sound under her feet. Daichi rose and turned around in one swift motion. He grabbed Yae by the neck and hoisted her off the ground. The katana fell from her hand as she tried to unhinge Daichi's fingers from around her throat.

"Ah, there you are," said Daichi. Yae tried to struggle out of Daichi's grip, but failed. She kicked against his muscular chest, but this seemed to have no effect. "I was wondering when you would show up. If you've come to save your friends, I'm afraid you're too late. But don't worry, you'll join them soon enough. I must admit, I will feel worse about destroying a beautiful flower such as yourself than I did when I killed those three maggots." He tightened his grip on Yae's throat. She wanted to yell in pain, but only a weak squeal was able to escape her lips. The demon pivoted to his right and slammed Yae into the side of the mountain. "But don't worry. I'll get over it." He was just about to do it again when he heard someone shout "Flaming Ryo!" come from somewhere behind him. The fiery coin hit Daichi in the back of the head, and he dropped Yae and turned around. "You again?!" he snarled. "You're really starting to bug me. But on the bright side, I guess I really will get the pleasure of killing you myself."

Goemon stood twenty feet away from Daichi and held another ryo in his hand. He shook both his head and a rebuking finger at Daichi. "Attacking a beautiful young woman like that. For shame." The coin in his hand burst into flames and he threw it at the demon. "Flaming Ryo!" he shouted. Daichi caught the flaming ryo, crumpled it into a tiny ball, and tossed it to the ground. He was now seething with rage, and walked towards Goemon in large strides. "Sasuke, now!" Goemon called.

A blur moved behind Daichi, and in the next moment he was on his knees. The blur came to a stop and revealed itself to be none other than the clockwork ninja, holding two kunai in his hands. The tips were covered in a thick, black liquid. Daichi looked up and punched the ground, sending a shockwave in Goemon's direction. Goemon quickly dodged this now familiar move and said "Looks like we've got the upper hand now, Daichi." He pulled the white sealing container out of his shirt pocket.

But Daichi wasn't going to go quietly. He placed his palm on the floor, causing another massive earthquake. Goemon tried to steady himself but fell over almost immediately and watched the sealing container fall out of his hands and roll away. "I've got it!" said Ebisumaru, who had moved low to the ground for greater stability. Unfortunately, this made catching the container a difficult task.

Eventually, the earthquake subsided. Goemon and Sasuke were out of breath and sprawled on the floor, while Ebisumaru was reaching under a log trying to find the capsule that had rolled underneath it. Daichi was breathing heavily as he slowly stood up. He bared his fangs and walked towards Goemon, his fist raised in the air. Goemon got up to defend himself, but his legs still felt unstable from the earthquake. Daichi moved closer and was just about to attack when he suddenly stopped, a look of complete and utter shock on his face. A squishing sound could be heard as the tip of a slightly curved sword appeared in Daichi's chest and allowed his blood to flow freely.

Yae pushed her foot against Daichi's back to release her katana from his sinewy body. The demon was on his knees gasping for air, his hand covering the gaping wound in his chest. "Impossible," he said between short breaths. He looked up at Goemon with enough anger to match his incredible physical power. "Know this, maggot. You may have won this round, but you will never be able to defeat my three siblings and find my father in time. He will destroy all of you in the most painful way imaginable, and make everyone in this pathetic world his slave. You four have no idea what you're up against."

"Goemon, catch!" Ebisumaru had finally managed to get the sealing container, and threw it towards Goemon, who caught it and pointed it at Daichi.

"You listen, and you listen good, Daichi," Goemon said. "As long as we stand and fight together, nothing can stop us. You guys don't stand a chance against us. I'm sure you and your siblings can have some great conversations about that when they join you in here. And my name's not 'maggot.' It's Goemon!" He removed the top half of the sealing container and aimed it at the weakened demon before him.

Daichi's body became completely yellow, and eventually shrunk and stretched all the way to the capsule in Goemon's hand. As soon as the last of Daichi's spirit was in the sealing container, Goemon put the top half back on and thrust it in the air in celebration. "Yeah! One down, three to go!" he yelled. Sasuke and Ebisumaru stood on either side of him and contributed to the celebratory cheers. Their first fight on foot in over three years had resulted in a victory, thanks to the power of teamwork.

Speaking of teamwork, Goemon looked straight ahead and saw Yae cleaning her katana with a handkerchief. The blood stains weren't coming off very easily, but Yae continued to wipe back and forth with increasing effort. "So Yae," Goemon said after watching her do this for some time. "Did I already tell you how happy I am to see you right now?"

Yae finally gave up on cleaning her katana and put it back in its sheath. "Yeah, you did Goemon," she replied with a friendly smile. "It's great to be back." Goemon couldn't help but smile and laugh. After all this time, they finally had the old Yae back.

"We should get the Jewel of Light and rest in the nearest town. That last fight took a lot out of us," said Goemon. They all walked to the side of the mountain, where the huge gem lay waiting for them. "So, how does this work? Do we have to haul this thing all around Japan?" Goemon bent down to grab it, but a sudden flash from the jewel sent him reeling backwards with his arm covering his eyes.

The jewel stood upright and ascended until it was level with Goemon's eyes. Everybody stared at it as they heard a strange voice echo throughout the valley. "I am the Topaz of Power, one of the four Jewels of Light whose purpose it is to protect this world from the power of darkness." Despite the fact that the voice had introduced itself as the Topaz of Power, Goemon and his friends looked around for its source.

"Did anybody else hear that just now?" Goemon asked. "Who do you think said that?"

"I said it, you fool!" the voice shouted. The Topaz of Power swooped down towards Goemon's face. "Weren't you paying attention? You should all learn to listen every once in a while. It may save your life someday."

"I apologize for my friend there, he usually doesn't think before he speaks" Yae said. "We wish to destroy Makurayami, and we seek your help in doing so."

"Yes, I saw how you managed to defeat Daichi just now. Very impressive. But your skills are not nearly developed enough to defeat Makurayami. Are you sure you fully comprehend the power you face, and understand the risks that will be present in such a mission?"

"Yes, we accepted this task understanding everything it entailed," Sasuke said.

The Topaz of Power moved to the side so that it floated directly in front of Ebisumaru. "Very well. I will lend my power to you, the one whose physical strength inspires awe in all who witness it. Accept it now, and go forth to rid this world of the darkness." There was another bright flash, and in the next moment a ring with a white band and a large yellow gem was exactly where the Topaz of Power had been. It gently lowered itself to the floor.

Goemon walked over and bent down to examine the ring. "Well, what do we have here," he said as he reached down to grab it. As soon as his fingers came into contact with the ring, he pulled his hand back and let out a yelp.

The ring moved back up and situated itself two inches in front of Goemon's nose. "You are a dense one, aren't you?" it said. "I never said I would lend my power to you. Again, you must listen. The information you gain can be invaluable." It threw itself back to Ebisumaru's feet.

"Uh, why don't you go ahead and pick it up, Ebisumaru? It seems to want to go with you." Goemon rubbed his hand tenderly and scowled at the verbally abusive ring.

"I don't know, Goemon. That looked like a nasty shock there," Ebisumaru said.

It took some time to convince Ebisumaru to pick up the ring. When he finally did so and found that it did not try to injure him in retaliation, he placed it on his finger and looked at it admiringly. "Ooh, very nice. The wife's going to be jealous about this one," he said with a smile.

Finally, it was time to go. Goemon and his friends were all very tired after the long and difficult battle they had just fought. They were trying to remember how to get away from this mountain range when Ebisumaru noticed a problem. "Hey, Goemon. Do you remember which tree we left our stuff in?"


	13. Reconciliation

Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae walked through the city gates and onto the bustling streets of Zazen Town. It was nearly evening by the time they arrived, thanks to the fact that Goemon and Ebisumaru had hidden their supplies a little too well. After finally finding the right tree, it took nearly an hour to climb up and retrieve the sacks. After that, they had to complete the difficult task of navigating through the mountain range. Yae, of course, claimed to know the way out the whole time, but Goemon had been too stubborn to listen to her, and had led the group in a circle several times before finally letting Yae take the lead.

The cuts on Goemon's face had stopped bleeding long ago, but everybody was still bruised and sore in several places. At that point, they wanted nothing more than to find the inn, get a good meal, and rest for the night. Yae assumed that Goemon's memory was temporarily damaged thanks to the large bump on the back of his head, so she volunteered to take everybody to the inn before he had the opportunity to do the same. Judging by his navigational skills at their last locale, Goemon would have probably ended up leading everybody right into the nearby creek.

"Okay guys, we're here," she said after leading everybody through a long tunnel to the other side of town. "Wow, it's bigger than I remember it."

Indeed, the inn had always been the largest building in this section of Zazen Town. But sometime during the past three years, they had added several more stories so that it towered over any other inn, restaurant or shop Goemon and his friends had ever encountered. No matter how far they stretched their heads back, they couldn't quite see the top.

They stepped through the doors and saw that, unlike the outside, the lobby hadn't changed at all. The same smiling innkeeper still wore the same blue robe and sat on the same raised platform behind the same oak desk. "Welcome to our inn," he said in an overly jolly voice. "Would you like to stay in our Platinum Suite this evening?"

Goemon was about to say that four Silver Rooms would have been great, but before he could do so, Ebisumaru's curiosity got the best of him. "Tell us about this 'Platinum Suite,' my good man" he said. He rubbed his chin and stared at the innkeeper with feigned skepticism.

"I'm so glad you asked, sir. The Platinum Suite is the newest addition to this fine establishment, and possesses many desirable features for the low, low price of 750 ryo per night."

Goemon's eyes bulged out of their sockets at the mention of this price. He was just about to stop the innkeeper from going any further when Ebisumaru put his flabby hand over Goemon's mouth. "Please, continue," Ebisumaru said nonchalantly.

"Well, there are four separated rooms, so the lady can stay with all of you and still have her privacy. It is situated on the top floor, and has a balcony in the back that has a great view of the town and the surrounding areas. In addition, there are many other features of this room that you can't find anywhere else: a dedicated staff of people at your beck and call to make sure your stay is as relaxing as possible, a kitchen with a nearly unlimited supply and variety of food that is always manned by our finest chefs--"

"We'll take it!"

---

"I really hope it's worth all that money, Ebisumaru. Otherwise, you're never gonna hear the end of it. I'll never let you forget the stupid choice you made when you wasted most of our money on a room for one night."

"Don't worry about it, it sounds great. And it didn't cost much more than it would've if we had all gotten Silver Rooms like we usually do."

Goemon and Ebisumaru had been arguing like this ever since the innkeeper had gone to retrieve the key out of a separate room. Goemon's frustration hadn't subsided as they followed the innkeeper with the unnaturally wide grin up the stairs. Goemon let Sasuke and Yae walk ahead so he could continue to berate Ebisumaru without the innkeeper overhearing.

"Of course it sounded great! He was trying to sucker you into buying it, and you fell right into his trap. And I don't know how your math can be so screwed up, this thing cost 350 ryo more than four Silver Rooms combined."

Ebisumaru counted on his fingers for a moment. "But he had such a nice smile," he whined. "Wait, I've got an idea, Goemon. I told him we'll pay tomorrow. And when we do, I'll just use my Hypnotic Dance and we'll get a huge discount! Just you wait and see."

"Oh no, anything but that. First the song, now the dance? When is it all gonna end?!"

Yae looked over her shoulder. "He sang that stupid song earlier? I'm glad I missed out on that."

After going up a seemingly infinite number of stairs, they finally arrived on the top floor. Golden double doors waited for them and begged to be opened. "I'm so glad you decided to stay in this room," the innkeeper said. "We built the Platinum Suite a year and a half ago, and you're the first guests that have ever stayed in it. Nobody has accepted our offer to stay here before now."

Goemon rolled his eyes. "Gee, I wonder why," he said quietly.

The innkeeper put an ornate gold key into the lock and turned it. There was a loud click as the locks inside the door disengaged. He handed this key to Sasuke and reached into his pocket. He pulled out three similar keys and gave one each to Yae, Ebisumaru, and Goemon. "I will inform our staff that there are guests staying in the Platinum Suite. They will be up shortly to assist you with whatever you may need. Enjoy your stay!" The innkeeper bowed and walked back down the stairs.

"All right, now we'll see whether I should kill you now or later," Goemon said. He walked up to the doors and pushed them open.

Everybody was speechless upon seeing the room they were to stay in for the first time. It was massive, and had everything the innkeeper claimed it would, as well as some things he never had the chance to mention. These included a transparent dome-shaped portion of the ceiling high above them and a large circular area walled off by bamboo stalks directly below. A sign on this bamboo wall read "HOT SPRING" in letters large enough to read from the entrance. Nobody bothered wondering how a hot spring could be found on the top floor of an inn; they just thought about how inviting it sounded after the difficult battle earlier that day. There were three doors on the two sides of the room, presumably a total of four bedrooms and two bathrooms. In the back was a sliding door that led to the balcony the innkeeper had spoken of.

They all peered into this spacious area with their mouths wide open. Goemon shook his head and blinked several times to make sure this wasn't all some cruel, taunting trick. "Well, you got lucky this time, Ebisumaru," he said.

---

Yae had been only slightly more accepting of Ebisumaru's idea of spending the night in this extravagant place, and this came only after seeing the room for herself. She walked immediately to the first bedchamber on the left and found that it contained everything she could possibly need for a comfortable stay: a large bed, a mirror, an armoire, and a desk with parchment and ink. In spite of the innkeeper's claim that nobody had stayed here in a year and a half, everything in this room was meticulously well maintained. The plants looked fresh, the bed was neatly done, and there wasn't one speck of dust on any of the furniture.

Yae threw herself on the bed, which was soft and unbelievably comfortable. She felt as though she would keep sinking in it until she hit the floor if she stayed there long enough. Yae rolled around to see how the bed felt against all the contours of her body and purred softly in satisfaction.

She lay on her back, putting her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling. She could feel her aches and pains subsiding already, and wished she could remain in that bed for the rest of her life. "_I sure showed that rat, Hideyoshi. Nobody can separate me from my friends like that. Nobody. I'll bet he's destroying his office right now in frustration, wondering where I am and what I'm doing. I'll show him for thinking that Goemon has 'corrupted' me. But for now, I should just enjoy myself._"

Yae got up and stretched. She felt more relaxed already, and decided to see what her friends were doing.

Sasuke and Ebisumaru were sitting at the table in front of the kitchen, which was in the opposite corner. "But I don't really care about how comfortable a room is. I am a robot, after all. I just stand in a corner and shut myself off every night."

"But Sasuke, don't you see? This place is amazing! It's got everything, even a hot spring. You like hot baths, don't you, Sasuke?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"So you should enjoy it while you can instead of trying to pinch every penny like Goemon!" Ebisumaru finally noticed Yae, who had joined them at the table. "Yae, what do you think? This is a pretty great place, huh?"

"Yeah, it's nice, but--"

Goemon walked out of the other bedroom that was on the same side as Yae's. "See, Goemon?" Ebisumaru called to him. "Even Yae likes it here."

Yae didn't bother finishing her original thought. She just stared at the hot spring, which seemed to be calling her name.

Just then, the front doors burst open, and several men dressed in white walked in. "Greetings!" one of them said. "We're your personal chefs, and it will be our pleasure to serve you the finest foods in all of Japan."

---

Yae couldn't resist any longer. After eating more than enough delicious food, she returned to her room and swung the doors of her armoire open. She found a white bathrobe and matching towels inside. She undressed and put on the bathrobe, excited for the relaxing dip that she would soon take.

She walked out the door and was relieved to find that Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke were still in the kitchen area. Goemon and Ebisumaru were demanding more food from the chefs behind the counter, while Sasuke was talking to a young lady in a colorful kimono. The lady bowed and exited the room, while Sasuke returned to sipping his tea.

"I'm gonna be using the hot spring for a while, okay?" Yae called out. There was no response. There was no way to tell if anybody could hear her over Goemon and Ebisumaru's shouts, but she was too thrilled at the prospect of finally getting a chance to relax in the spring to take the time to ask them again.

Yae walked through the bamboo door into the hot spring. There was a circle of rocks that went up to her neck in the center of the room, and inside was a hole filled nearly to ground level with steaming water. Yae removed her bathrobe and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall near the hot spring. She placed her neatly folded towel directly underneath it and gingerly stepped into the water.

She found a place to sit in the water and stretched her legs out, letting out a long sigh. The therapeutic powers of the hot water began to work on every inch of Yae's sore body. Her eyes closed as she slunk lower and lower into the hot spring. "This is heavenly," she whispered to herself. "It would be so great if I never had to leave." It was a shame that she knew in the back of her mind that she would actually have to leave the next morning. Before long, Yae succumbed to the weight of her heavy eyelids and slid down until only her head was visible above the water's surface.

Several minutes later, the door opened and Goemon and Ebisumaru walked in with towels wrapped around their waists. Yae, however, failed to notice this and instead kept sleeping, her bobbing head barely visible in the thick cloud of steam that had gathered around her. Goemon and Ebisumaru took off their towels and threw them sloppily to the floor. Like Yae, they were both completely naked.

"Boy, this is gonna feel great," Goemon said. "I'm gonna feel like a new man after this is over."

"So, does that mean you're glad I decided we should stay here?" Ebisumaru asked. "Come on, I know you want to say it. I'm sure you're dying to thank me for this great decision."

"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Goemon and Ebisumaru were looking at each other as they stepped into the hot spring, so they failed to notice Yae finally wake up and realize that she wasn't alone. She cursed to herself for forgetting to lock the door and turned her head away in disgust at the sight of the two men in their birthday suits. Even when blurred by the smokescreen, their bare figures were something Yae would rather not see. Her surprise and humiliation, as well as her belief that the smoke could shift from the force of her voice, kept her mouth shut, so she hoped that Goemon and Ebisumaru would be observant and see her themselves. The last thing she wanted was to have to embarrass all three of them even further by yelling. "Oh, wow. This almost convinces me that you weren't acting like a total idiot when you got us this room." Goemon and Ebisumaru closed their eyes and stretched their legs, just as Yae had done moments earlier. Although the hot spring could easily fit several more adults, Yae felt cramped and quickly pulled her legs up to her body.

"I hope the chefs hurry up on that cake," Ebisumaru said. It was hard to believe, but Ebisumaru seemed to get even fatter as he sat there. "They may be polite, but they sure aren't fast."

"I'm sure it'll taste great, though. We've got a lot of things to celebrate. We got the first Jewel of Light. We defeated the first of Dochuki's siblings. And best of all, Yae has finally decided to join us. Speaking of Yae, I wonder where she is? I haven't seen her since dinner." As touched as she was that Goemon considered her presence so important, Yae was also getting impatient. She couldn't believe how dense and unobservant they both were. Because they always had their eyes either closed or directed right at each other, they had failed to notice Yae sitting across from them. "Anyway, I'm sure waiting here until it's done will be great, too. An hour of soaking in this spring should do us a lot of good."

That was something Yae couldn't allow. She finally got over her initial shock and realized she would have to make it blatantly obvious that she was closer than either of the men realized. "EVERYBODY OUT, NOW!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, causing most of the smoke to dissipate. Noticing this, she quickly covered her breasts with both arms.

That got their attention. Goemon and Ebisumaru looked and saw the source of the sudden sound. Their eyes grew as large as melons, and they frantically climbed out of the spring and grabbed their towels. They quickly said several things that seemed to get jumbled together as they left, but some of the phrases Yae could discern included "When did she get here?", "Sorry", "She's insane", and "How could we not notice that, of all things?".

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" Yae shouted after them. This whole incident had caused Yae a great deal of stress. But on the bright side, that meant that she would have to spend more time in the spring to recover.

Yae went back to focusing on her own relaxation, but it wasn't long before the door opened again and Sasuke poked his head in. "I heard a loud scream. Is everything all right in here?" he asked.

"SASUKE, GET OUT!"

---

It was now late at night. Everybody had said their good nights, and retired to their respective bedchambers. Ebisumaru had chosen the bedroom closest to the kitchen area in case he felt hungry in the middle of the night, and Sasuke had taken the last remaining room along the same wall as Ebisumaru's.

Yae tossed and turned in her bed. Despite feeling very comfortable, she couldn't fall asleep. There were things that weighed heavily on her mind even now, and she thought that fresh air might be a good way to relieve her anxiety. She got dressed and walked out the door and onto the balcony.

She had not been on the balcony before this point. The view was breathtaking; she could see the whole town of Zazen, which was still lit up in spite of the late hour. She could also see beyond the city borders, even so far as the mountain range where they had fought Daichi. Looking harder still, she saw a speck far in the distance that she believed was the Wise Man's house. The scene before her summoned an uplifting feeling in her heart and a smile on her face. Yae sat in one of the chairs and continued to look out from her vantage point.

"Couldn't sleep either, eh?" said a voice from behind her.

Yae recognized the voice immediately, and responded without even turning around to see where it had originated from. "No. I thought it would be nice to see what kind of a view we've got from up here. It's beautiful, isn't it Goemon?"

"Sure is." Goemon jumped down from the roof of the inn onto the balcony below, landing right next to Yae. For some inexplicable reason, Goemon enjoyed spending time on building rooftops. Judging by his sagging eyelids, it seemed like he hadn't even attempted to sleep. "So, what's bothering you, Yae?"

"What? Nothing's bothering me," Yae said. It was a feeble lie and she knew it.

"Something's on your mind, I can see it in your eyes. Listen, I know I haven't been treating you so great recently, but I still consider you a really good friend, and I want to help you. You can open up to me."

"What do you mean? I've never felt more welcome among you guys than I do right now."

Goemon laughed. "That whole thing in the hot spring wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll all be able to have a good laugh about it someday." Neither person could believe what she had just said.

"_Did I just hear her right?_" Goemon wondered. "_Three years ago, she would've bit my head off about that every time she saw me. Wow, Yae's really changed a lot._"

"Anyway, I really shouldn't say anything about what's keeping me up. It's a sign of weakness."

"Oh, come on! Yae, you're not at work. You shouldn't worry about that so often."

"But see, that's who I am."

"And that's why we were all so concerned about you. This obsession with what you consider weakness is ruining your life. They've turned you into this person who's afraid to show any kind of emotion that can't be used on a mission, or can't even open up to their closest friends. I'm sure you weren't always like that."

"Actually, that's where you're wrong. I was..." Yae didn't want to finish that thought. Her past was a topic that she didn't particularly enjoy discussing.

"You were what? Don't be afraid to say what's on your mind, I'm not going to judge you." Goemon put a reassuring hand on Yae's shoulder.

Yae let out a deep sigh and began her story. She knew she would have to keep it as vague as possible; she intended to keep the details of her past a mystery. "The truth is, I wasn't much different as a child as I was when I first met you. Even before I joined the SSIN, I hardly ever talked to anybody. I never wanted anybody to know what I was thinking. I always acted tough, and that meant keeping my feelings hidden as much as possible. I guess that's what really attracted me to the SSIN. They wanted people like me who wouldn't get too bogged down by things like that."

Goemon nodded every few seconds while listening to Yae. When she finished, his hand moved from her shoulder to his side. He walked to the edge of the balcony and rested his forearms on the balustrade. "I understand completely. I used to be the same way. I thought it would make me a better ninja.

"But I think that part of me changed after I met Ebisumaru. He didn't think keeping your thoughts bottled up like that was healthy, and it certainly wasn't necessary in order to be a great ninja. Things like anger, pride, misery...it's not good to experience those sorts of things all the time. I'm still working on that myself. But anyway, you need to allow yourself to express a greater variety of emotions: joy, love, even a little bit of fear. It's best to express a good balance of as many emotions as you can. Don't hold back. After all, how can you know what true happiness is like if you've never experienced sadness? I think you'd be a lot happier in the long run if you're willing to open up and let others know how you're really feeling. So, let's try this again. What's bothering you, Yae? And remember, expressing your true feelings is not a sign of weakness."

"Not a...sign of weakness..." Yae repeated. She leaned forward and put her face in her hands. She massaged her forehead tenderly as this revolutionary concept was finally revealed to her.

There was a long silence. "That's okay, take your time," Goemon whispered. "Whenever you're ready, just say what's on your mind."

"I'm--I'm sorry," Yae said finally. Goemon looked confused at this answer. "I'm sorry I put my job ahead of you guys like that. It was inexcusable. I don't know how long it'll be before I can forgive myself."

"Okay, forgiving your own mistakes, we'll talk about that some other time. You did what you thought was right, and that's something you should always do.

"Anyway, I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty upset when I found out you would probably not be joining us. I blamed myself for a while, I thought you were mad at me for all the stuff that happened at Mt. Fuji and the Wise Man's house. I'm really sorry about that, by the way, if I hurt you or anything."

"It's okay, Goemon. Really, it is. I know you weren't really angry with me, you were just upset by the disaster that afternoon turned out to be."

"Exactly. But when I left the Wise Man's house this morning, and you weren't with us, I didn't really know what to think. Like I said, I was pretty upset when I found out you were staying behind, but I tried to hide it. There were more important things to think about. Hey, look at it this way: if you hadn't stayed behind, Daichi probably would've killed all four of us at the same time. You were able to come and save us when we needed you the most. So I guess everything happens for a reason, right?

"I do want to know one more thing, though. What exactly made you decide to come with us after all? Did you just want to experience the thrill of a new adventure? Or was it something else? Could it be that you actually...I don't know, care about us?"

Goemon was pleasantly surprised that Yae didn't show the slightest sign of resentment at this suggestion, which was what a small part of him expected her to do. Instead, she leaned back into her chair, her hands folded neatly in her lap as a smile formed on her face. "Yeah, I think that might be it," she said quietly. "I started thinking about all the great times we've had, and I realized I shouldn't let some stupid jerk try and keep me from making more of those memories. This is where I belong. I just hope I don't end up regretting my decision someday."

"You can't think about that, Yae. Just live for today. Live your life the way you want it. That is the destiny for many."

"Heh heh, that stupid song again. But it's true, I suppose. And I am really happy I decided to come. Something you said in the hot spring really convinced me that this is the right choice. It must've intensified my shock or something, because it kept me from getting your attention earlier."

Goemon laughed. "Yeah? What was that?" 

"You said that you wanted to celebrate the fact that I was here. Not that I saved your life, just that I decided to come along. I never realized my being here meant so much to you guys."

"Of course it does. You're our friend, remember? I would try to do the same for Ebisumaru or Sasuke. And that was some pretty good cake, wasn't it?" 

"It sure was. Too bad Ebisumaru ate most of it before I got there."

They both laughed softly and took deep breaths. The night air was refreshing and calm, and the activity in the city below seemed to have died down quite a bit since Goemon and Yae started talking. Goemon stretched and yawned loudly. "Well, I'm going to bed. We're probably going to get an early start on searching for the next jewel tomorrow. Good night, Yae." Goemon turned and walked back into the room.

"Good night, Goemon. And thank you."

Yae sat outside for a few minutes more. "_I don't know what I'd do without a friend like Goemon. Even if worse comes to worse, I'm sure they'll find some way to help me out._" Yae let out a long yawn and extended her arms upward. "_I guess that means I should be going to bed, too._" Yae got up and retired to her bedroom. She couldn't stop herself from beaming as fragments of the conversation swirled through her mind.


	14. Checking Out

"Come on, chop chop chop! We've gotta get going soon, and I want to enjoy this until the very last minute."

Ebisumaru was leaning on the counter in the kitchen area barking orders to the chefs. They had no idea they would be serving someone so greedy, and many of them had grown bitter and even considered a career change. They would often sneer at Ebisumaru or curse him under their breath while he wasn't looking. Each one of them couldn't wait for him to leave.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Ebisumaru had been too excited about eating more of this irresistible food to sleep any longer than this, and had gone straight to the kitchen wearing nothing but his loin cloth. The chefs averted their eyes at the gruesome sight as much as they could manage without appearing too rude.

"Let's go, guys. My friends are probably gonna want to leave in about an hour, and I want to see how much I can eat before then." The chefs groaned when they heard "about an hour," and started cooking with only half of the zeal they had the previous night.

The sound of a creaking door was heard behind Ebisumaru. Sasuke walked into the main room and to the kitchen area. "That oil last night really hit the spot," he said. He swung his arm in a circle to demonstrate the smoothness and silence of his movement. "Green tea, please."

One of the chefs stopped cooking Ebisumaru's order and walked to a steaming kettle. He poured the tea into a cup and handed it to Sasuke with a smile.

"_Oh no, Sasuke's up. That means Goemon and Yae are probably gonna be ready soon,_" Ebisumaru thought.

"Quick, get back to...whatever that is you were cooking. Pick up the pace, we're running out of time!" he shouted.

Another door opened, and Goemon, fully dressed, emerged and joined Ebisumaru at the counter. "Morning, guys," he said pleasantly. One of the chefs placed a bowl full of sticky noodles and soy beans in front of Goemon. Ebisumaru slowly reached for the bowl, but Goemon snatched it before he could get to it. "Wow, natto! I love this stuff. Thanks a lot, guys!" Goemon walked to the table where Sasuke was sitting and picked up a large clump of noodles with his chopsticks. He put the entire morsel in his mouth and chewed with a huge grin on his face. "This is great, Ebisumaru. You have no idea what you're missing out on. Oh, and you should put on some clothes. Yae will probably be ready soon."

Ebisumaru looked like he was about to cry as he watched Goemon eat one of his favorite breakfasts. Dejected at the sight, he sighed and dragged himself to his room.

Moments later, the bathroom on the opposite side opened, and Yae stepped out combing her damp, untied hair. "Good morning, everybody," she said. Another bowl appeared on the counter, this one with a pleasant-smelling miso soup. A bowl of rice was soon placed next to it. Yae politely thanked the chefs before taking both bowls and joining Goemon and Sasuke.

Ebisumaru finally came out of his room and noticed Yae sitting at the table and eating soup and rice from two bowls. "Oh, drat," he said disappointingly. He leaned against the end of the counter and waited for his own breakfast.

"I need more food," Goemon said to Sasuke and Yae. "Some rice. And tea, that would be great." As if by magic, a bowl of rice and a cup of tea appeared on the counter a second later. Ebisumaru eyed it greedily, but once again Goemon was too fast for him. "Wow, it's like they're reading my mind or something," he said as he took them back to his table. "Eat quickly, Ebisumaru. We need to get going." Ebisumaru let out a despondent moan as he watched Goemon and Yae eat the food that rightfully belonged to him.

---

Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae waited in the lobby to hand in their keys and check out. This was the moment Goemon had been dreading since check-in: the time when they would have to pay.

The innkeeper gave a plain gray key to a grumpy-looking old man in front of them and called for the next guest in line. "Ah, leaving us already?" he asked when he saw Goemon and his friends looking up at him. "Did you enjoy your stay?"

"Oh, we sure did. There was great food, and a hot spring, and comfy beds. I can't wait to do it again!" Ebisumaru said. He sounded like a little kid who had just come home from an exciting day at a carnival.

"Well, that is certainly good to hear. Now then, we come to the hard part. Please hand in your keys." Everybody put their keys on the desk. "And that will be 750 ryo, please."

Ebisumaru began moving his hips in a slow, circular motion. He raised two fingers high above his head and waved them in time with his waist, while at the same time humming an eerie tune.

Yae and Sasuke had heard of Ebisumaru's infamous "Hypnotic Dance," but they had never had the misfortune of seeing it for themselves. They wanted to look somewhere else, but for some reason they couldn't peel their eyes away from the layers of fat that jiggled as Ebisumaru moved in this suggestive manner. There was definitely something unnaturally mind-numbing about the undulation of Ebisumaru's blubber.

The innkeeper was also staring intently, at least until something brought his expression closer to a frown than Goemon and his friends had ever seen him have. This something was Ebisumaru removing the outer layer of his clothes, but before he could get very far, Goemon placed a bag of coins on the innkeeper's desk and said "There. That's all of it." Fearing that Ebisumaru would follow through with his promise to try his dance in order to get a discount for their stay, Goemon had gathered enough money from both Sasuke and Yae the previous night to cover the full price. He dragged Ebisumaru out by the arm and Sasuke and Yae followed, their eyes blank and their steps slow.

"Oh, but Goemon, it was working. The innkeeper was going to give us that discount, I just know it," Ebisumaru complained.

"I don't know what innkeeper you were watching, but I don't think anybody would ever give a discount to somebody who does that. Fix your clothes, people are staring." Ebisumaru whined and did as Goemon commanded.

It was at that moment that Sasuke and Yae finally snapped out of their stupor. Yae pulled the antenna out of Sasuke's back. The clockwork ninja stood there, concentrating on interpreting the signals he was receiving. "Well, Sasuke? Where to next?" Yae asked.

There was a moment's silence while everybody waited for their navigator to give his directions. "There!" Sasuke shouted. His arm thrust out and pointed towards the northwestern border of Zazen Town.

---

After hours of walking, Sasuke led Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae to the mouth of a dense forest. Because the trees left little room for walking, they were often forced to proceed in a single file line. The antenna coming out of Sasuke's back compressed into a silver circle. "I shouldn't need that anymore," he said. "We're almost there. I can feel it."

Goemon looked up at the trees surrounding them. There was no sign of wildlife in any of them. Not a single nest was situated in any of the branches. "I would suggest putting our stuff in one of those trees, but I don't want to waste another hour looking for them later," he said. "Of course, in this place it might take a lot longer to find them." Goemon assumed that Ebisumaru had eaten most of the contents of his sack on the way here, but Goemon still had some useful items in his own pack that he didn't want to lose. "Wait right here, guys. I'm gonna put my stuff near the entrance of the forest." 

"Hold on, take mine, too, Goemon," Ebisumaru said. He tossed his nearly empty sack to Goemon, who picked it up and turned around.

"Don't get lost, Goemon," Yae shouted after him.

"Don't worry, I'll only be gone for a minute," Goemon replied. He ran off and soon disappeared in the maze of trees.

Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae didn't know whether they should stay where they were to wait for Goemon, or if they should keep moving towards the Jewel of Light. It didn't take much thought to realize that it would be disastrous if they got separated, so they stood there and observed their surroundings. The forest was absolutely silent. There was no breeze, no animals, and the three ninjas didn't move a muscle as they waited for Goemon to return.

However, this silence didn't last for long. A distant sound could be heard, like a powerful sea breeze. It grew louder and fiercer, and was soon mixed with the sound of splintering wood. Yae looked in the direction of the sound just in time to see its source. "Look out!" she shouted. She grabbed Ebisumaru and Sasuke and dove out of the way of a giant tornado that had ripped the trees in its path right out of the ground. There was nothing left where the tornado had plowed through, save for some strewn branches and leaves. After passing by the three ninjas sprawled on the floor, it stopped and shrunk, eventually disappearing. Yae stood up, pulled out her katana, and waited for the source of the attack to reveal itself.


	15. Mistress of the Winds

Yae's eyes darted from side to side as she scanned the forest for their foe. She saw no movement, but bent her knees to prepare for a surprise attack. She held her katana so that the blade crossed her body, protecting herself as well as Sasuke and Ebisumaru.

"Ow! What was that all about?" Ebisumaru asked as he unsteadily got to his feet. Yae gave him a quick, reproachful glance telling him to be quiet before returning to her watch.

Sasuke stood up and looked in the same direction as Yae. "_Nothing there,_" she thought. "_What could have caused that, then?_"

"Oh, shoot. Looks like I missed," said a feminine voice from behind them. Everybody guessed that they would be facing another demon, but this voice seemed far too sweet to belong to a sibling of Dochuki's.

Everybody turned around and saw that they had indeed heard a demon. She stood on the ground several feet away from them, shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips. She had large brown eyes which stared viciously at the three ninjas. She was fairly thin and had a perfectly proportioned figure. She wore a strange, thin armor that extended from her neck down to the middle of her thighs, leaving her arms and legs mostly bare. Two broaches in the shape of an eagle's wings could be seen attached to this armor above each of her breasts. Despite the fact that there was no breeze, her hair, which was black as night, flew back and danced behind her head. If it had not been for her aqua green skin and two fangs sticking out of her mouth, she may have been quite beautiful.

Yae's protective instinct kicked in again, and she stood in front of Ebisumaru and Sasuke. "Who are you, and why are you attacking us?" Yae asked, even though she had a feeling the first part would eventually be answered without her asking it, and she knew perfectly well what the answer to the second question was.

"Wow, you're pretty rude for a young lady, aren't you?" the green-skinned demon replied. "Well, I'm not one to leave those sorts of questions unanswered." She cleared her throat in a sickeningly urbane manner. "I am Haruki, the fourth and greatest child of the almighty Makurayami. If you're so curious about why I call myself the greatest, don't worry. You'll find out for yourself soon enough.

"As for why I sent that little gift your way...well, now that you know who I am, there shouldn't be any more confusion about that. Or are you really as stupid as I originally thought? If you are, then I assume you came for this." Haruki held up her hand. There was a puff of smoke, and a small necklace materialized in her palm. At the bottom of the necklace hung a jewel with a blinding green glow. Despite its size, there was no doubt about what this necklace really was; Haruki held in her hand the second Jewel of Light.

"Oh, thank you so much," Yae said. "You saved us the trouble of finding it ourselves after we beat you senseless."

"Silence!" Haruki thrust her other hand out towards Yae, who was pushed back by an invisible force and crashed into Ebisumaru and Sasuke. Her voice had become louder and more threatening. "Your insolence knows no bounds. Perhaps I should teach you some manners before I destroy you." She shook her head and returned to her previous voice. "Anyway, I was walking through this lovely forest when I happened to find this jewel. It's beautiful, isn't it? Maybe I'll take it back to my wonderful father and see what he thinks of it." Haruki's inflection on the word "wonderful" suggested she was only slightly fonder of her father than the three ninjas on the floor before her were. "Maybe then Daddy's Little Girl will get the appreciation she deserves. Hee hee, that's me." The Jewel of Light disappeared in another puff of smoke.

Yae got up and brushed her clothes off, apparently unimpressed by Haruki's entire speech. "Listen, I hate to break it to you, but you won't be seeing your father anytime soon. And you certainly won't have that jewel when you do meet him." She picked up her katana from the floor in front of her. "You say you're the greatest, right? Prove it. Show us what you've got."

Sasuke and Ebisumaru hopped to their feet as quickly as they could and took fighting stances. The wind began to pick up, and Haruki ascended gracefully into the air. "Very well," she said. "This should be fun." Three miniature cyclones rose out of the ground between Haruki and her opponents. Each moved with lightning speed towards the ninjas, who were completely unprepared for such an attack. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae were all tossed up in the air and before they could figure out what was happening a sharp pain shot through their bodies. During the brief time they were airborne Haruki's fingertips had mutated into sharp, curved claws. She zipped right by the ninjas, digging the blades into each of their skins as she did so. They fell to the ground below with a loud thud and squirmed in pain.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me," Haruki taunted. Suddenly, a Flaming Ryo zoomed in her direction. Haruki noticed it just in time and reached her hand out. The flames subsided almost instantly, and she deftly caught the coin before sending it back to its source, a tree whose height was matched with her eye level, with a greater force.

Goemon fell out of the tree Haruki had thrown the coin at and landed face down on the ground. "It was a good effort, loser. I'll give you that. Ow!" Yae had managed to get back on her feet and pulled the trigger of her bazooka after aiming it at the back of Haruki's head. The ball that shot out of the bazooka didn't make much of an impact against her foe, but it did make her extremely irate. Haruki swooped down to the ground, hitting Yae in the face along the way. Yae reeled back from the attack.

Ebisumaru and Sasuke, however, were now ready to retaliate. Sasuke jumped towards his opponent, but a fierce wind blew that sent him spiraling backwards into a nearby tree. Ebisumaru's immense weight came in handy as he stood his ground against the gusts, but he lost his grip on the paper fan in his hand. He ran after it and tried to catch it, but the wind kept it just out of his reach. He gave up after it got lost in the woods. "Well, I guess I won't be using that thing anymore. It probably wasn't a good idea to use it in the first place," he said. He soon felt two attacks from behind him that sent him flying straight into the air and then one more that sent him hurtling into a tree. The tree shook rapidly after Ebisumaru crashed into it, causing hundreds of leaves to fall on him after he dropped to the floor. His large nose was the only feature that was visible after the foliage covered him.

Haruki turned her attention to Yae again. The kunoichi was breathing hard, but still pointed her katana and gazed fiercely at the demon. "Still looking for more?" Haruki asked with a grin. Suddenly, a small fireball hit Haruki's hand. The flames quickly spread up her forearm, and she screamed and waved her arm frantically to extinguish the fire. Much of her arm was charred a hideous black by the time the flames disappeared.

Goemon was glad to see his attack had hit its target. "What's the matter, freak? You're not scared of fire, are you?"

Haruki growled at Goemon for both the assault and the mockery. "That's it, you two deserve a special punishment." Her voice was starting to rumble ominously once again. Yae was about to take this opportunity to slash Haruki while her back was turned, but the nimble demon moved to the side and behind Yae before she could even swing her sword. Haruki gave Yae a strong kick in the back so she joined Goemon. She rose steadily in the air, her eyes becoming a ghostly white as she did so. "It is time to awaken my mightiest powers. Prepare to die, you fools!" Her booming voice grew louder, making her sound more like a vengeful deity than the girly imp she had been before.

Goemon and Yae were swept off their feet as the wind rushed by them on all sides. They tried their best to get back to solid ground, but instead found themselves going higher and higher. It didn't take long for the relatively lightweight Sasuke to get caught in the funnel, his eyes growing wider and his arms waving wildly as he tried to regain control of his body. The leaves flew off of Ebisumaru's body, and eventually he was slowly lifted up. "Wha--What's going on?" he asked as he realized his right leg was leading the rest of his body away from the earth.

Goemon and his friends spun in midair through the artificially made clearing, hitting branches and getting scraped by every tree they passed. Haruki continually ascended, conducting the whirlwind as it dragged the ninjas' helpless bodies in a rising, centrifugal motion. Goemon managed to grab a thick branch that helped him escape from this brutal punishment, but wasn't able to stay there for long. Ebisumaru, still upside down, collided with Goemon, sending both him and the branch back into the whirlwind. They continued upward until they were high above the trees, higher even than Haruki. Suddenly, the demon stopped moving her hands, and swiftly brought them down to her sides. The wind died in an instant, and there was a split second where Goemon realized how much pain he was about to be in before he began plummeting to the earth below.

Everybody screamed as they fell, gaining speed and trying to regain their balance so they could minimize the pain of their landing. Yae hit a strong branch near the top of one of the shorter trees and nearly rolled off the edge. She grabbed the branch so she wouldn't have to continue her fall, her back sore from the impact of hitting the branch. She steadied herself, panting heavily as she wondered how she could possibly still be alive after all of this. She hoped her friends were able to find some way to avoid hitting the ground below as well.

Unfortunately, none of them were as lucky as Yae. Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke hit the ground with a loud crash. Haruki came down to the floor to evaluate the damage she had done. All three ninjas had landed face down on the ground, and Sasuke's arms were beginning to come out of their sockets. "Where's the girl?" Haruki asked. Goemon and Ebisumaru moaned in response.

Yae saw her chance to attack. She carefully stood up and tried her best to fight her aches and pains so she could keep her balance. This whole process caused a rustling of leaves that gave away her position. Haruki pointed her palm in the direction of the tree that Yae was hiding in. Powerful gusts emanated from her hand, toppling the tree in a matter of seconds. Yae jumped out before the tree had tipped too far back, but the sloppy landing on her weakened legs forced her to collapse to the floor.

"Well, you're all practically dead anyway. Perhaps I should call my friends to finish the job." Immediately after Haruki said this, she put two fingers in her mouth and released a high-pitched whistle. Her pupils had vanished completely and her cold, emotionless face made her truly frightening to behold.

The sound of a million flapping wings and shrill calls could be heard. A thick, multicolored cloud could be seen above the treetops moving towards their position with incredible speed. Haruki pointed a long, thin finger directly at the ninjas.

"Uh-oh," Yae said when she saw the approaching birds. "We'd better get out of here, guys. Come on!" Sasuke pushed himself up to his feet and helped Yae get Goemon and Ebisumaru up. After several panicky seconds of effort on everybody's parts, all four ninjas stood up and hobbled into a thicket of trees, narrowly avoiding the dive-bombing birds.

Goemon and his friends wove in and out of the trees to avoid the flock, which seemed to be made up of dozens of nearly every variety of bird imaginable. Goemon looked back and saw that they stretched as far back as he could see, and they were much faster than any of the ninjas. Ebisumaru, as usual, had fallen behind and was being pecked by a couple of owls at the head of the group. A giant hawk stared at Goemon, hoping to acquaint him with its sharpened claws and vicious beak.

The forest began to thin out, and it was becoming harder for the ninjas to lose their pursuers. Yae finally managed to pull ahead slightly, and moved behind a tree. The others soon followed suit behind other trees. Fortune was on their side, as most of the birds passed right by them, but some of the smaller ones at the end of the line found the ninjas' hiding spots and attacked. Everybody tried to swat them out of the air, but were soon forced to use their weapons after their bare hands proved ineffective. Yae shook her head as she looked down at the dead hummingbird that she had extracted from her hair and hurled to the ground. She knew they were all put under some sort of spell by Haruki, and that it was a tragedy that they had to die like this. The ground at the feet of the others was also littered with small birds.

Yae took a moment to catch her breath before addressing the others. "I know you probably don't want to be thinking about this right now, but we've still gotta defeat Haruki, and fast."

"Speaking of fast, I don't know how that's even possible. She's way too quick for us," Goemon said between long breaths.

"She has to have a weakness. No matter how bad things seem, there has to be a way we can defeat her," Sasuke said. "Think, Mr. Goemon."

Everybody thought over the way the battle with Haruki had progressed. They had all been so shaken by what had happened, it was difficult to piece everything together. First she sent cyclones after and slashed Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae, then she stopped Goemon's Flaming Ryo and forced him out of the tree, followed by knocking out Ebisumaru and Sasuke, and then...

Goemon and Yae both came to the same realization at the same time. "Fire!" they both said.

"Goemon, you need to use your Flaming Ryo against her. I'd say a few of those would put her in her place," Yae said.

"But she's still too fast. You saw how she was able to extinguish the flame the first time," Goemon replied. "What about Sasuke? He's faster than me, and his firecracker bombs should work just as well."

"I'll try my best, but I think she'll still be too agile for me to hit her," Sasuke said.

"She is easily distracted, though," Yae said thoughtfully. "And she seems to really hate me. Maybe I should distract her for you. Ebisumaru, you can help me with that."

Sasuke accepted his role by nodding his head, but Ebisumaru looked more upset. "Why do I always have to get the most dangerous jobs?" he asked.

But before they could go find trouble, trouble found them. A cracking sound was heard from Yae's tree, and it began to tip over. Everybody quickly moved out of the way, but was soon met with punches and kicks that sent Goemon and Sasuke flying in one direction and Ebisumaru and Yae in another. "I won't let you escape!" Haruki shouted. "This ends now!"

Haruki caught Goemon in a rapid series of kicks. Sasuke was worried about his friend getting caught in the explosion of one of his bombs, and so resisted the urge to attack. Yae, however, knew she would have to help him. She pulled out her bazooka, aimed carefully, and managed to hit Haruki in the back.

"Hey, we've got a personal score to settle," Yae said. Haruki stopped attacking Goemon and glared at Yae.

"You! Your time is up, little one," Haruki said. She slowly approached Yae. Small tapping sounds could be heard behind the demon. She turned around and saw the firecracker bomb on the floor. Her eyes widened, and she managed to get away the instant before it exploded.

Sasuke hurled the bombs as fast as he could, but Haruki dodged every one of them. She moved closer to Sasuke with each blurry evasion until she was near enough to strike. Sasuke tried to dodge her attacks, but was much too slow and ended up getting hit numerous times and landing flat on his back.

Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard. Haruki turned around to see Ebisumaru waving at her. "Let's see you deal with my charms," Ebisumaru said. His hips began to move in a circle as he once again began his Hypnotic Dance.

Haruki's body became more relaxed. Her pupils were returning to her eyes, and her personality was once again becoming "normal." Her eyes became slits as she stared at Ebisumaru and said "Ew. What do you think you're doing?"

It was at that moment that Goemon leaped out of the tree behind Ebisumaru and kicked Haruki in the chest on the way down. The demon was now flat on her back, and Goemon stood on top of her and swung his pipe down at her face. Haruki grabbed the pipe and tried to push it back, but wasn't nearly strong enough. They both struggled for some time before Goemon pushed Haruki's arms to the side to force her to release the pipe, and quickly slammed it into her face. Haruki screamed in pain and brought her hands up to cover her nose. "My face! My beautiful face!" she screamed. Goemon jumped backwards and pulled a coin out of his pocket. It quickly ignited in his hand, and he threw it at his opponent, who was still writhing on the floor.

Haruki's entire upper body became engulfed in the fire. She convulsed and screamed at the top of her lungs as the flames spread up to her head in a matter of seconds. It was a gruesome sight; so gruesome, in fact, that most of the ninjas couldn't bear to look at it. Only Goemon stared at the flailing demon. There was no trace of mercy in his cold eyes. He pulled out another coin, closed his eyes, and hurled the fiery projectile at Haruki after shouting "Flaming Ryo!"

This one also hit the demon. She let out another earsplitting scream as the fire charred her skin. Somehow, she found the strength to roll over and climb up onto her knees. She had one last thing to say before life left her body. "You will regret destroying me, wretched fools. With every one of us that dies, you'll end up facing a greater danger in the end. Be sure of that." And with that, Haruki drew her last breath and lay motionless on the floor. The flames on her blackened body began to die down.

"Goemon, just capture her so we can take the Jewel of Light and get out of here. Quickly, now. The very thought of what she must look like right now is making me sick," Yae said. Her eyes were still shut tight, as were Ebisumaru's and Sasuke's.

Without saying a word, Goemon pulled the white sealing container out and removed the top. He pointed the vacuum at Haruki's body, which disintegrated into tiny particles that were sucked into the container. Goemon put the lid back on and placed the sealing container back in his inside pocket.

There was a puff of smoke where Haruki's body had been moments earlier. After the dust cleared, Goemon and his friends saw the large, bright green Jewel of Light floating in front of them. "I am the Emerald of Spirit, one of the Four Jewels of Light whose purpose it is to protect this world from the power of darkness," said a voice that was much lighter in tone than the Topaz of Power's voice.

Fortunately, there would be no confusion on anybody's part about where the voice had come from this time. "We're on a journey to defeat Makurayami," Goemon said. "Please help us by lending us your power."

"You were barely able to defeat Haruki, though," the emerald replied. "You should take heed of her dying words. You face a being that is the very essence of fear, hatred, and sorrow. He grows stronger every day, and very soon there will come a time when he is too powerful for even the four Jewels of Light to stop him."

"We understand," Yae said. "I know we can defeat him, but we need your help." No sooner had she said this than the pain in her body suddenly intensified. She winced and fell to her knees, holding her side.

"Very well. But first, I will do what I can to heal your wounds." There was a flash of light, and much of the pain the ninjas were feeling disappeared. It was far from perfect, but they felt more than strong enough to continue on. The Emerald of Spirit then floated in front of Sasuke. "I shall lend my power to you, the one with a true fighter's spirit. May your loyalty, your determination, and your resilience continue to serve you well. Accept this power, and go forth to rid this world of the darkness." The Emerald of Power glowed a pure white and eventually took the appearance of the same necklace that Haruki held in her hand when the ninjas first saw her. Sasuke put out his hand and caught it before it hit the ground. Yae, who was initially afraid she would get hurt for touching the jewel the same way Goemon had when he touched Ebisumaru's, eventually helped Sasuke unfasten two of the links and reconnect them behind what little neck he had. The jewel then fused into Sasuke's body to keep itself from flying around due to quick movements, though the chain remained on the outside.

"Well, I guess we should get going," Goemon said. He looked around and saw nothing but trees in every direction. "And once again, I have no idea how to get out."


	16. Sasuke's Inner Demons

Life had remained relatively normal in Oedo Town while Goemon and his friends were away. People continued to go about their daily lives, most of them none the wiser about any danger that would soon befall them. That is, until one evening, just one day after the ninjas began their adventure.

An especially thick darkness crept over Oedo Town that night. Makurayami had finally decided to leave the sanctuary of Mt. Fuji in search of a host body. Unfortunately for him, he was having more trouble finding a suitable candidate than he anticipated. Many of the people here were selfish and unkind. Some had a heavy weight on their conscience because of a horrible past deed. Most of the people Makurayami tried had both problems.

The people became frightened when they saw a dark cloud pass through their walls and enter their bodies. Each person had no idea what was going on or what they should do in response to watching their loved ones fall to the floor and convulse before or after they experienced it themselves. Makurayami would always leave the house with every member of the family shivering and covered with sweat, praying that whatever evil had befallen them would soon be subdued.

"_How is it possible that every human being in this town is so wretched and unsuitable to be a host?_" Makurayami wondered. "_I must find someone soon. If fortune smiles on me, maybe I can find someone that will allow me to easily manipulate those fools who think they can stop me._"

It was at that moment that he came upon a certain building, a restaurant of some sort, judging by the sign draped on the wall next to the door. He heard a single voice inside, a female humming a slow song to herself. Makurayami silently moved through the wall and into the restaurant.

---

Hideyoshi paced back and forth in his office, feeling even grumpier than usual on this occasion. Yae had now missed two days of work in a row, and the mystery of her whereabouts was causing him a great deal of frustration. He knew that Yae still had too much honor to consider something as drastic as suicide, but as far as he knew she was nowhere in Oedo Town.

The door to his office burst open. An agent dressed entirely in black stepped through and bowed deeply. "Sir, several people in Oedo Town have reported strange fits of madness after a black cloud entered their homes," the ninja said quickly without standing up from his bow. "They claim they were possessed by a demon."

Hideyoshi was intrigued by this story. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"All of these incidents occurred last night, sir."

It was now perfectly clear what Yae was up to. This realization made him even angrier. "Yae...I should have known," he uttered in a slow, guttural voice. He cleared his throat and addressed the ninja at the door in an authoritative manner. "Make sure our best available agent is assigned to investigate this demon claim. You and I are going to be doing a little investigation of our own."

---

Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae sat around the fire pit and finished the meal of fish that Yae had caught and prepared for the group, along with the leftovers of Omitsu's farewell gift. After two more days of travel, they had arrived at Japan's northeastern shore. Sasuke's radar told the group that the next Jewel of Light was here, most likely somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Because the nearby boat rental shop was closed for the night, Goemon decided to set up camp here and find the jewel in the morning.

It was quite cold in this area of Japan. Goemon poked at the dying embers in the fire pit, but none of them wanted to produce any more heat or light. "Well, it's getting late," he said. A white mist escaped from his mouth with every syllable he spoke. "Unless there's something I'm forgetting, I think we should just call it a night and go to bed. We've probably got another long and difficult day ahead of us."

Yae stood up. "I'm going to train for awhile. You're all welcome to join me. After what happened with those last two demons, I think we could all use some practice."

"I think you should rest, Yae. We're all tired, and don't forget that you're going to be doing most of the work tomorrow."

Yae stopped on her way to the nearby clearing that would have to serve as her training area. She had forgotten how terrible Goemon and Ebisumaru were at swimming. And if it hadn't been for the enhancements that the Wise Man had made for him, Sasuke would have been just as useless in the water. "I'm doing this to help myself in the long run, Goemon," Yae said without turning her head to face him. "I don't care if I'm a little more sore or tired tomorrow. I'll be better off because of it. You would be, too. Like I said, you're all welcome to join me." She continued on her way.

"Physical strength isn't going to defeat Makurayami, Yae. We have to keep our minds as healthy as possible, and that means being well rested." Goemon's tone then changed into one that was so quiet, there was almost no chance that Yae was able to hear him. "All right, just don't go overboard, okay?"

Sasuke stood up, looked at Goemon and Ebisumaru, then looked at Yae. Without saying a word, he joined Yae at the clearing. They faced each other and bowed before drawing their weapons.

"Well, I agree with you, Goemon. The Jewels of Light aren't going to help us any more or less because of how much we train," Ebisumaru said to his friend. "Besides, I just ate, and I really don't want to get any cramps."

Goemon and Ebisumaru took the blankets out of their sacks and said their goodnights. The sound of the tide was already beginning to lull them to sleep.

---

The sound of clashing metal rang through the area for nearly half an hour. Sasuke and Yae tried their best to keep their training session as quiet as possible, but that was becoming more difficult with every passing second. Fortunately for them, Goemon and Ebisumaru had made the wise decision to sleep closer to the shore and farther away from Sasuke and Yae.

The two ninjas were perfectly matched. They sparred for over half an hour, the two fighters essentially alternating between victory and defeat against the other.

Sasuke approached Yae, waving his kunai with incredible speed and control. Yae's katana met every attack, and when she saw her chance, she sheathed her blade and jumped over Sasuke's head. She rolled on the ground behind him and stood up with her katana drawn.

But Sasuke was prepared for this. He whirled around and swung his weapons through the air, ready to stop in an instant if there was any chance of harming Yae. She backed up to avoid this attack, and countered with her own slash. Sasuke used both kunai to block the incoming attack, but before long he was the one who was forced to back up.

The tip of Yae's katana moved forward, just inches from Sasuke's head. Before she even had the chance to pull it back, the Emerald of Spirit embedded in Sasuke's chest glowed brightly. Yae was surprised when she saw this and let her guard down. Before she knew what was happening, Sasuke leaped in the air and kicked her to the floor. The clockwork ninja stood on top of the kunoichi and stared down at her with cold, dead eyes. He was just about to deliver a final blow into Yae's heart when the emerald stopped glowing. It was at that moment that Sasuke returned to his senses and realized what had happened. He backed off of her and went into a low bow. "My apologies, Miss Yae. I don't know what happened there," he said.

"That's fine, Sasuke." Yae pushed herself off of the ground and put her katana back in its sheath. She was shaken by what had just happened, but she was fascinated by it even more. Why had the Emerald of Spirit started glowing right then? What had stopped it? And what exactly had Sasuke experienced during that brief time? Yae's inquisitive mind yearned for the answers to these questions, but it seemed that Sasuke wouldn't be able to provide any useful information on the subject.

She giggled when she saw that Sasuke's head was still so low, his face nearly touched the ground. "You can stand up now, Sasuke," she said. She was getting tired from both the late hour and the strenuous exercise. "I think that's enough sparring for now. Time for meditation. If Goemon's so worried about the strength of his mind, he should have tried that for a while."

Yae sat cross-legged, and Sasuke joined her directly across from her. Yae closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, but this was proving a difficult task. Too much had happened, and too much was about to happen for her to effectively meditate for any significant period of time. She opened one eye and saw that Sasuke was staring at her with both eyes wide open. Perhaps she had forgotten that Sasuke was a robot, but Yae no longer saw any use in trying to meditate. "Well, it doesn't look like this is gonna work," Yae said. "Maybe we should just go to bed. We're going to have another big day tomorrow."

"Actually, Miss Yae, may I speak to you about something?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, Sasuke. And please, just call me Yae. 'Miss Yae' makes me feel old," she replied. "Or like I'm at work," she added under her breath.

"Mi--I mean, Yae, I want to be a better ninja."

Yae laughed at this outrageous statement. "What are you talking about? You're already a great ninja. And if you want to improve, you should find somebody who's better than me to teach you. We're evenly matched, remember?"

"I don't mean a better fighter. I'd like you to help me be a better person, so to speak. I want to be more like you."

Yae thought for sure that Sasuke was trying to make a joke with that last statement. "What the--Why would you want to be more like me? Don't forget that I abandoned all of you not too long ago."

"But I admire your strengths. You came back to us eventually, so that means you must be in touch with your true self, perhaps more than you're willing to admit. You're also confident, and intelligent, and loyal to the greater good. It is this last quality that I desire the most. Please, teach me to be like you."

Yae was flattered, but had to take a moment to ascertain what was really being said. There was a long silence as Yae bit her lower lip and went into deep thought and Sasuke stared patiently at his teacher. "Sasuke, nobody can really teach you to have those traits. They come about as a result of your circumstances and how you react to them, as well as repetition of certain actions that help them grow. Most people can't tell you how they ended up having the personalities they do," she said. "Let me ask you, why do you feel this sudden urge to mimic me?"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to think. The wheels in his head, both real and figurative, began turning as he tried to formulate an answer. "It is...difficult for me to explain, Mi--Yae. I had my doubts about coming on this mission, as well. I was so worried about the Wise Man's well being if I had left, I was nearly ready to disobey a direct order to go. I'm afraid he won't be alive much longer, and I wouldn't know what to do when that happens. After all, everything I do is for him.

"He told me before I left that I was made to serve the greater good. But at this moment, I feel my desire to do so waning. I feel loyal only to the Wise Man, and not to anybody else."

Yae nodded slowly as she pieced everything together. It was all starting to make sense to her. "So, you feel your life will lack direction without the Wise Man, correct? It's completely natural for people to feel that way about their loved ones, especially someone like the Wise Man, who's been so kind to you. That's very similar to the way Goemon feels about Omitsu and Ebisumaru feels about his wife. It's also how we all feel about each other. But I don't think you have any need to worry. There's a reason the Emerald of Spirit mentioned all those qualities before lending you its power. You're strong enough that you wouldn't need my help or anybody else's help to make you a better person. Rather than trying to imitate others, you should follow your own heart." Sasuke gave her a look that seemed to say "You know I can't."

"Don't give me that look, Sasuke," Yae scolded. "I know you have a heart. Maybe not a physical one, but I know it's there. If you still don't believe me, then follow your conscience. Remember, your conscience isn't a feeling. It's a judgment."

"I've never had to deal with a loss that great, though," Sasuke said.

"Neither have I, at least not since I was very young. I don't remember much about my parents, but I don't think they'd want me to stop living my life just because they're gone. No matter what you think, you're not going to just shut down completely after the Wise Man passes away. I'm sure he will expect you to do what you were built for: to serve the people of Japan. That would be the best thing you could do to honor his memory."

There was a long silence. Sasuke moved his lips, but no sound came out. "Does that help, Sasuke? I want you to end the day knowing that you'll be just fine on your own." Yae shook her head and corrected herself. "No, now I'm the one who's not making any sense. You won't be alone. You'll have all three of us here with you. But I think you'll find that you'll work just as well independently as you do now. And you don't have to change who you are to do so."

Sasuke bowed deeply. "Yes, I understand, Yae. Thank you very much for your counsel."

Yae smiled and got up. "Your welcome, Sasuke. I'd be glad to help you anytime at all. Come, we should go get some rest."

Yae was consistently surprised by how much Sasuke seemed more and more human with each passing day.


	17. Beneath the Surface

"WHAT?! Who do you think you are, charging that much for a junky boat like that?" Goemon shouted to the owner of the boat rental shack. His hand went instinctively to his pipe as his anger rose. "How can you even offer to rent that to a customer?"

Goemon was referring to a small rowboat made of old, worn out, unpainted wood that had several conspicuously uneven areas where holes had most likely formed and been sloppily patched up. The oars were chipped at the handles and had long cracks in the wide paddles at the opposite end. The boat was an outcast, being situated far from the other potential choices, many of which were magnificent specimens compared to this pathetic example of a boat. Upon seeing it for the first time Goemon had been surprised that this thing could even float.

The owner of the rental service, a tall, skinny man named Ichiro, just shook his head disapprovingly. "I don't see why you're getting so upset over this. This is the most inexpensive boat that can hold four people. It's exactly what you asked for. And don't let its appearance fool you. This vessel has held strong for many years," he said. "400 ryo for the entire day. And remember, this is the only boat rental business within miles of here."

Goemon gathered 100 ryo from each of his companions and added it to 100 of his own, grumbling the entire time. "There, just take it, you thief," he said. "See, Ebisumaru? This is exactly why I didn't want to stay in that Platinum Suite," he growled to his friend.

"Oh, come on, Goemon," Ebisumaru said as he gave Goemon a hearty pat on the back. "How could you possibly have known we were gonna get stuck with a tiny boat like this just because we spent a little more money in Zazen Town?"

---

Goemon had to put all of his strength into rowing in order to propel the boat just a few inches through the water. His grunts from rowing became intermingled with his curses about their dangerously low funds and Ebisumaru's impulsiveness. Yae and Sasuke sat up front, while Ebisumaru relaxed in the back and watched Goemon struggle through the motions required to get the boat to move.

This had gone on for over an hour before Sasuke stopped Goemon. The shoreline was no longer visible, due more to fog than distance. "We're right above it, Goemon. Try to keep the boat right here while Yae and I search below," Sasuke said. Goemon groaned as he realized that there was nothing in the boat that he could use as an anchor; he would have to row just to keep it from drifting.

Yae steadied herself on the boat and dove into the sea. She disappeared below the surface, but a momentary pink glow soon gave away her position. Several seconds later, a green and pink blur shot straight up into the air and landed back in the water, splashing everyone who was left in the boat.

By swimming to the top of a waterfall several years earlier, Yae had obtained the ability to transform into a mermaid. This metamorphosis somehow replaced her legs with a scaly pink tail fin similar in shape to a dolphin's and gave her both gills and lungs. It also deprived her of any clothing, save for the top halves of two blue shells that covered her breasts and were attached by a string that went around her back. Goemon hadn't seen Yae as a mermaid since before they had defeated Dochuki, but it was making him nervous, and he secretly wished that she and Sasuke would just get on with their search. Yae was stunning like this, to say the least, and Goemon knew that Omitsu wouldn't be too pleased if she found out that he was spending so much time with a beautiful mermaid.

"Ah, it feels so great to go swimming again," the mermaid Yae said. "Come on in, Sasuke! The water's fine."

Sasuke jumped in, but instead of going far below like Yae had, he stayed relatively close to the surface. There were several loud whirring and clicking sounds, and before long Sasuke came back up with the help of a propellor where his legs had been. "All right, we'll be back soon. Try not to drift too far, Goemon," Yae said. She winked at her friends and went back down below the surface, with Sasuke following close behind.

"And now we just sit back and wait. Boy, we got off easy this time, eh Goemon?" Ebisumaru said as he folded his arms and stretched out his legs as far as he could, making his friend feel cramped in this tight space. But Goemon didn't answer. He had already been forced to start fighting against the ocean current.

---

Sasuke led Yae deeper and deeper into the ocean. They went almost straight down for several minutes before Sasuke pointed at an odd rock formation with a bright blue jewel embedded in it. Sasuke had to try to keep his mouth closed as much as possible so his insides would not become flooded, but words weren't necessary to make Yae understand what he was saying. Their search was over. They had discovered the third Jewel of Light. Adding to their fortune was the fact that there didn't seem to be any hostile force around there to protect it.

Yae was nearly blinded as she moved closer to the gem. She gave the signal to Sasuke to start extracting it, but no matter how hard they pulled it wouldn't budge. The jewel intensified in radiance the longer they worked, revealing two fierce yellow eyes directly below it. Yae moved back when she saw this, but Sasuke continued to pull and was soon caught inbetween two rows of razor sharp teeth and dragged away. The Jewel of Light, as well as Sasuke and the creature that had caught him in its jaws, moved swiftly through the water. Yae stared in shock at what was happening and was slapped by the tail of whatever had taken Sasuke away.

Sasuke moved through the water as smoothly as if he were flying through the air, involuntarily performing intricate flips and spirals. Suddenly, there was a bright white flash from the mouth of the creature, who threw his head back and released Sasuke. This burst of light illuminated part of the monster for a moment. From what Yae could see, it looked like a giant snake with jagged blue skin and two stubby arms. It's large yellow eyes were situated just above its long, thin snout.

Sasuke swam back towards the monster and slashed at its face during this moment of weakness. After Sasuke made some clean cuts, the monster grabbed him in its clawed hands and leaned forward to take a huge bite out of the robot in its clutches. Yae sped forward to help him, and hit the giant creature in the face. He released Sasuke, who immediately swam away and joined Yae just above their adversary.

Their opponent was getting visibly irritated by these two. Its scowling eyes glowed and stared intently at the two ninjas. Nobody moved for a moment, but strong vibrations in the water caught Sasuke and Yae by surprise and forced them to divert their attention away from their serpentine foe.

Yae's eyes grew large when she saw the source of the rumbling. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she cried. "Time to go, Sasuke!" Yae and Sasuke both ascended towards the surface as quickly as they could, a massive and ravenous school of fish as well as the giant sea creature following close behind.


	18. Pride and Lunacy

Yae swam frantically towards the surface to try and get away from the fish that pursued her and Sasuke. Her eyes were becoming wide with fear and panic, and she was running out of stamina fast. She couldn't believe how many had gathered together just to harm her. It was the bird incident all over again, but with faster animals, including a large and extremely dangerous snake leading the school.

She could see the boat now. Unlike last time, there was a definite end in sight. Even though she knew it could be dangerous, Yae began her transformation back into her normal form.

---

Minutes earlier, above the surface, Goemon and Ebisumaru had started a deep philosophical discussion about their significant others.

"Yeah, well I say Omitsu is way cuter than your wife," Goemon said as he crossed his arms proudly.

"No way, Goemon," Ebisumaru retorted. "Omitsu may be eye candy, but my Rie is..." He rubbed his chin and then his stomach as he tried to think of a metaphor to describe his wife. "She's like a cake. A tall, beautiful, soft, delicious cake. Yeah, what do ya have to say about that, smart guy?"

"Ummm..." Goemon was stunned by both Ebisumaru's response and the logic behind it, which he should have come to expect by now. "Why a cake? And why do all of your analogies have to do with food?"

It was at that moment that the stampede of fish drew close enough to the boat to cause it to rock uncontrollably in the water. "Hey, speaking of food, this rumbling reminds me of something important: I'm starving," Ebisumaru said.

"Ebisumaru, this is no time for crappy jokes! Something's going on down there. I hope Sasuke and Yae are okay." Goemon and Ebisumaru peered over the side of the boat.

Meanwhile, on the other side not too far from the vessel's current position, Yae stuck her head above the surface and gasped for air. Her quick and premature transformation felt like it compelled her skull to try to break out of her head. It pounded against her skin, each pulse sending an excruciating pain through her forehead. But she had no time to worry about that right now. She grabbed onto the boat and tried to climb back in. "Let me in! Let me in!" she sputtered.

Goemon finally noticed that Yae had resurfaced on the other side. "Hey, careful, you're gonna tip the boat!" he shouted.

Yae let out a sharp yelp as the two men helped her into the boat. Several seconds later, she was finally inside and a large brown fish with yellow eyes and long, pointy teeth was attached to her right calf muscle. Goemon grabbed the fish, squeezed it tightly to force it to release its grip, and tossed it back into the sea. Yae moved her hand to the wound, which was dripping with blood and had been ever since she was bitten. The fish had taken a good bite out of Yae; a large amount of her thick red blood was beginning to sink towards the ocean floor. Most of the rest of it had ended up on the inside of the boat. Goemon shook his head. "Hmm...Ichiro's not gonna like this." 

"I think that's the smallest of our problems, Goemon," Yae said between heavy pants. She coughed for several seconds straight, spewing sea water with every hack.

Goemon had never seen Yae look this pitiful before. She sat on the seat in the back of the boat, holding her leg where the fish had chomped and wincing every so often. Her hair was a crumpled mess, and there was a genuine sense of panic and fear in her eyes when they were open. Goemon knelt down besides her. "What happened down there, Yae?" he asked.

"And where's Sasuke?" Ebisumaru added.

"Oh no, Sasuke," Yae said. She shot straight up in her seat and looked around as if she expected Sasuke to be standing right there. "I--I don't know where he is. I thought he was right behind me. What if that thing got him?"

"That thing? What thing?"

Before Yae had the chance to respond, something flew up from out of the water as if shot out of a cannon and landed in the boat. It was Sasuke, and his condition seemed to be even worse than Yae's. His body was riddled with teeth and claw marks, and his back was unnaturally jagged.

Goemon and Ebisumaru helped Sasuke get to his feet. "We're in big trouble, guys," Sasuke said. "The Jewel of Light was embedded in the forehead of a giant sea monster. To make matters worse, my radar was destroyed. We have no way of knowing where to go after this. That's assuming we get out of here in one piece, of course."

Suddenly, a vortex formed in the water in front of the boat. It rose and formed a funnel that eventually came back down to the surface without losing a single drop. This water formed two legs, followed by a torso with two bulky arms. The end of the funnel became a head with gray hair that went all the way down to the waist. The blue-skinned demon that materialized stared at the ninjas with sharp, aqua eyes. He wore gray chain mail and had a red symbol under his right eye that Goemon now recognized as the same one both Daichi and Dochuki had on their bodies. A large blue gem was set in his armor right in the middle of his chest. The demon grinned maliciously, revealing the trademark fangs of his family, each of which had ugly red smears on them. He slowly licked his lips, spending an especially long time cleaning his stained fangs.

"You know, human blood is quite a delicacy among us demons," he said. His voice lacked the power of his brothers' authoritative tones; it was soft and unthreatening by comparison. "It is especially delicious when it's from someone young and energetic like that. Oh, she and her little friend may have caused me some grief." He moved his hand from his forehead down to his chin. When his face became visible again, Goemon could see that it had stretched out to form a snakelike snout. Several fresh gashes were clearly visible all along his face. He moved his hand back up over his face, returning it to its normal, scar-free form. "But I think they both got exactly what they deserved, wouldn't you say? Eee, ha ha ha ha haw!" His loud, shrill laugh made Bismaru's seem relatively small and tame.

"Oh, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself." The demon crossed one arm over his body and doubled over into a low bow. "My name is Kaito, and although I may be the youngest of the great Makurayami's children, there should already be no doubt in your minds that I am the greatest. Don't foolishly believe the lies that spew out of the mouths of my siblings. It is I that deserve my father's praise. And I shall earn it by destroying all of you."

Ebisumaru yawned loudly and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Boy, this guy just won't shut up, will he?" he said.

Kaito either ignored this comment or didn't notice it. He continued with his speech. "And once all of your cold, lifeless bodies are resting at the bottom of the ocean, I will return to my father in all of my glory, where he will shower me with praises for my strength and cunning. It will be I, Kaito, the youngest and most gifted demon, that earns my father's love, not that pompous, worthless Dochuki.

"And that is when I will carry out my ingenious plan. After earning my father's trust, I will use the Sapphire of Wisdom..." The gem on Kaito's chest glowed a bright blue, causing Goemon and his friends to shield their eyes. "...to destroy him and take my rightful place as the demon king, all powerful ruler of two worlds! Eee, ha ha ha ha haw!"

Goemon and his friends couldn't believe what they just heard. "WHAT?!" they all shouted at exactly the same time. They looked at each other as they tried to interpret the words just spoken by this lunatic.

"What--You--You want to kill your father?!" Ebisumaru asked Kaito. Everybody else was in too much shock to speak. "Then why would we fight each other?" 

"Because killing us is the first step in his plan, remember?" Yae said. "But he won't even be able to get that far, right guys?"

"Humph. I've said too much," Kaito mumbled. A massive wave rose behind him and ominously stayed still for a split second at its peak. Goemon was about to gulp and curse, but the wave smashed into the boat before he could do so. It sent the four ninjas flying in separate directions and completely destroyed the boat, leaving only some scattered planks floating on the water's surface.

Goemon inhaled quickly as soon as his head went above the water and grabbed onto the nearest board. He climbed on, but not before being bitten by several large fishes that had been eyeing him greedily for the past few seconds. After getting onto the flotsam, he removed each from his legs and hurled them back into the ocean. He looked back to where the boat had been seconds earlier. There was no sign of Kaito or any of his friends over there, but it wasn't long before the demon's distinctive laugh, much lower this time, echoed throughout the area.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Goemon," said a voice that Goemon immediately recognized as Ebisumaru's. He turned around and saw his friend sitting on another similar plank. The tiny holes in his clothing indicated that he too had been attacked by the ravenous sea creatures.

Goemon looked around in every direction and saw Sasuke floating not too far on Ebisumaru's left. Several seconds later, Yae appeared from underneath the water's surface and swam to the nearest floating piece of the wreckage. She had ended up quite far from everyone else, on the other side of where the boat had been. "Ouch!" she shouted. "Not--Ow! Not again. Ouch!" She scrambled up onto the board and grumbled as she got the three sharp-toothed fishes to release their grips on her legs.

Suddenly, a long, slender body covered in blue scales came out of the ocean. Its head, which was shaped like a snake's but had finlike ears in the back, was already several meters above the surface, but a good portion of the body seemed to still be below it. "Aah! Goemon, that's the thing that attacked Sasuke and me earlier!" Yae shouted.

"Wow," Goemon said as he stared up at the giant creature. "Well, we can't beat this guy on our own. We're gonna need some help." Goemon pulled out the conch shell, put one end to his lips, and blew into it with all his might.


	19. Impact vs Kaito

The giant snake before them reared its head back and let out a roar that caused the spines of Goemon and his friends to shiver from top to bottom. They all covered their ears to keep this ferocious call out of their heads, but despite their efforts it continued to ring in their minds for some time. Goemon was growing more nervous with each passing second. He didn't know how much longer Kaito would refrain from attacking them.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait much longer for Impact to arrive, causing a huge splash that completely drenched each of the ninjas. Kaito lunged at Impact, who grabbed the serpent by the neck and held him back just far enough that less than a foot separated its fangs from Impact's metal chest.

"Hey! Where's Miss Impact?" Goemon called out, spitting large amounts of water after almost every word.

"Still in the final phases of her repairs. She may come later," Impact grunted. His booming voice was carried across the expanse of the open ocean. He pushed Kaito back and and gave him a swift punch under the chin. "I need a pilot, Goemon, I can't fight to my full potential by myself. Hurry, you and Ebisumaru need to get up here."

"Wait a minute," Yae shouted. "Are you sure that's safe? What about me and Sasuke? We don't exactly have a lot of freedom of movement here, and we sure can't go back down there."

"Don't worry Yae," Goemon said reassuringly. "Just wait for Miss Impact. You'll be safe, I promise."

Impact smacked Kaito to the side and quickly turned to face both Goemon and Ebisumaru. Yae tried to stop Goemon, but was too late. The eerie green beacon came out of Impact's mouth and dragged both Goemon and Ebisumaru upwards.

"All right, Impact. Let's do this," Goemon said as his chair rose up towards the cockpit. He grabbed hold of the controls and prepared to fight once again. "Hey, Ebisumaru, why don't you see if there's anything good on the radio?"

Kaito leaped straight up into the air and fell back down right in front of Impact, scratching with his sharpened claws the entire way down and slapping Impact in the face with his tail. Goemon was so busy reminding Ebisumaru where the radio was, he failed to notice the incoming attack. Since Impact now had a pilot controlling him, he also did nothing to defend against the creature. "Ouch," groaned Ebisumaru, who had hit his head against the dashboard after Kaito had hit Impact with his tail. "There you go again, not paying attention during these vital moments." He turned a small dial next to a monitor in the center of the panel. It made a loud clicking sound as it prepared to provide music for the two ninjas. Goemon, meanwhile, ignored Ebisumaru's criticism and focused on defending against and countering Kaito's strikes.

Despite being in the middle of the ocean, what came out of the speakers was an upbeat song that Goemon and Ebisumaru were all too familiar with. It was a song that Impact had wrote about his favorite subject: himself. The Wise Man had implemented all the necessary tools in him to help him synthesize and manipulate a full orchestra, but Impact had only taken advantage of a small handful of instruments that helped him create a catchy rock beat. "Heard that one already," Goemon said as he made Impact unleash his Super Punch on Kaito. "See if there's anything else on there."

Ebisumaru turned the dial one more notch. _Click_. "The burning sun gleaming--" _Click_. "Jump out onto the sky--" _Click_. "I am the best, yes, Impact--" _Click_. "I am machinery, I am a--" Impact had shown his obsession by putting his song on every station so far. Ebisumaru turned the dial one more time and was surprised to find that a new song came up. It had the same basic melody, but slightly different lyrics. "Double Impact! Two people connected by a baton pass (hey!)..."

Green letters began forming across the screen next to the radio dial. "Well, what do you guys think of the new song? Miss Impact helped me write that one." This was Impact's way of communicating with his pilots while they were in the cockpit.

"Umm...why don't you just turn the radio off, Ebisumaru?" Goemon suggested. Ebisumaru turned the dial all the way to the left, and the sound stopped as suddenly as it had started.

As if cued by the cessation of Impact's radio, Kaito growled menacingly and raised his ears. He had landed very few blows on Impact; Goemon was able to predict his every move and counter without any significant effort. Another massive wave formed behind the giant serpent and crashed into Impact, nearly knocking him over. Somewhere behind him, Goemon knew that Sasuke and Yae would be losing patience after getting hit with three waves of water one right after the other. But what really concerned Goemon was what was in front of him after the rush of water had stopped: absolutely nothing. Once again, Kaito had managed to disappear, completely dissolving in the water that covered him. "Where'd he go? Quick, Ebisumaru, help me look for him on the radar so we don't have to deal with any nasty surprises."

The radar showed a dot moving closer to their position from the front. Within a few seconds, the dot was almost exactly at Impact's position. "Oh, boy. This doesn't look good," Goemon groaned. No sooner had he said this then Impact fell backwards and was dragged into the water.

---

Meanwhile, Yae was trying to wring her thick, green hair immediately after getting hit by the third wave in less than ten minutes. "_This is terrible. I must look like a complete mess right about now,_" she thought to herself. She diverted her attention from her hair to the battle in front of her just long enough to see Impact lean back and fall with incredible force and speed. Yae briefly wondered what she possibly could have done to deserve this until the wave crashed into her and nearly knocked her back into the ocean.

"I don't know about you, Sasuke," Yae said as she spat the sea water out of her mouth, "but I think that this has got to be one of the least pleasant adventures I've ever been on with you guys." Her eyes were completely covered by locks of green hair and her clothes were sagging as they absorbed the water.

Despite Yae's comical appearance, Sasuke dared not show any desire to laugh or even smile. "I don't know about that, Miss Yae," Sasuke replied. "Sitting through Dancin' and Lily's musical was pretty bad, too."

Yae, who was an appreciator of the performing arts, secretly disagreed. This was much more humiliating. Several seconds later, she moved her hair out of her eyes and looked up at the sky in response a thunderous sound. Her sprits were raised significantly at this new sight.

---

Kaito had moved the battle underwater by tripping Impact. He knew this was where he would dominate over the slow, lumbering robot. The demon was too fast for Impact, who wasn't able to punch with his usual speed due to the resistance that came with moving through the water. Kaito made several more scratches and dents in Impact's body, but refused to use his teeth. It seemed he had learned his lesson about biting into mechanical beings with Sasuke.

"This is bad, Goemon. He's beating us, slowly but surely," Ebisumaru said.

"You don't have to tell me, Ebisumaru." Kaito headbutted Impact in the chest so hard, he was sent flying backwards into a rock wall. Lights flashed and mild beeps that signified received damage sounded in the shaking cockpit. "The whatcha-ma-callit is flashing! The needle in this thinga-ma-jig is moving too fast! And look, that little doohicky is going nuts!"

"Oh my God, Goemon!" Ebisumaru said in a panicked voice. "I must be losing my mind! I didn't understand a word you just said!"

"I don't think there's anything unusual about that," Goemon said. "In fact, I don't understand it, either. It's all nonsense to me!"

Kaito opened his mouth. The water swirled around that point and shot forward, pushing Impact further into the rock. Goemon and Ebisumaru tried their best to have Impact push back and pry himself from the wall, but to no avail. Kaito lowered his head and smirked at his opponent. He made his elongated body completely straight and began spinning, faster and faster with each passing second. Goemon and Ebisumaru became dizzy after watching this for awhile, but no longer had to worry about getting sick after the creature shot forward and began drilling itself into Impact's chest.

The rumbling in the cockpit was now so intense, the two pilots were thrown out of their chairs and couldn't reach the controls. Even so, they knew it would do them no good. Impact wouldn't even be able to touch Kaito like this, and any ryo bullets shot at him would be deflected off of his spinning body.

Suddenly, a bright burst of light could be seen on the outside as the shaking stopped. The beam shot straight down right in front of Impact, who finally found that he was able to push himself out of the indentation in the rock with a sizable amount of effort.

Seconds after the beam subsided, Miss Impact landed hard on Kaito's tail. The demon let out a scream of pain and tried to wriggle free, but couldn't squeeze out from underneath the weight of the giant robot. Goemon was pleased to see that the Wise Man had been working on fixing up Miss Impact with his usual speed. Her arm was barely connected to her shoulder, but it still looked usable, quite a feat considering it had only been a few days and he didn't have Sasuke's help. There was a crackling sound in Impact's cockpit before Yae's voice was heard. "Well? Aren't you guys going to thank us?"

Goemon made himself comfortable in his chair once again before grabbing hold of the speaker. "Now there's a sight for sore eyes," he said with a huge grin. "I think it's time we take care of this guy and get out of here. I've had more than enough of the ocean for one day."

Impact rushed over to the other side of his counterpart and grabbed hold of the creature's tail. Miss Impact quickly stepped off the still squirming Kaito as Impact lifted him to chest level and began spinning in a circle of his own. Because he hit so many rocks during his circular motion, it took awhile for the sea serpent to reach an adequate speed, but when he did Impact hurled him upwards, far past the surface. Both robots ascended to catch their foe before he could fall back down into the water.

Impact reached the surface of the sea just before Kaito was within range of his attacks. The robot unleashed his Super Punch at a slight angle, preventing him from going back down to where he would have the advantage. A whirlwind of punches hit Kaito, and one well-placed uppercut sent him soaring upward again. He glowed a brilliant white for a second before shrinking and mutating back into his demonic form. Kaito plummeted like a rag doll hurled to the floor and hit the water. Rather than sinking below the surface, however, he floated on his back, the water rising and falling from the impact of his landing.

Goemon and Ebisumaru gently floated down to one floating plank while Sasuke and Yae landed on another. Kaito propped himself on one knee and expelled a thick blob of black blood after a few violent hacks. "How? How...could I lose...to you?" he asked in disbelief.

"The answer is simple. It's because we work so well together," Goemon said.

"Nobody can overcome our combined strength!" Ebisumaru added.

"Individually, we are strong. But when we fight as one, we are unstoppable," Sasuke said.

"Nothing will tear us apart. As long as we're around, you can rest assured that we will triumph over any evil," Yae finished.

"Humph. That's what you say. But your greatest test still awaits. No matter how well you think you can work together, no matter how close you think you are, you will never find true peace in this land. You can never expel the force you call evil from this world," Kaito said smugly. He coughed up more of his insides before putting his hands behind his head. "Well, you have defeated me in battle. I suppose you want to encase me in that cursed receptacle."

Goemon pulled out the white sealing container. "That's the first sensible thing I've ever heard you say," he said as he removed the top half. Kaito gave Goemon one last sneer before being sucked into the container. The sound of rushing water could be heard as the last of Kaito's spirit became encased in his new prison. "Yeah! Only one more to go!" he shouted. He looked at his friends with his famous grin on his face. "Miss Impact, why don't you head on back to the Wise Man's house? Impact can give us all a ride back to shore." Miss Impact nodded and flew off to the south.

"Mr. Goemon, if Kaito's in there, where do you suppose the Jewel of Light is?" Sasuke asked.

Goemon was so thrilled by the thought of another victory, he had nearly forgotten the real reason they were all there. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Yae to see a bright blue gem floating on one of the planks. She gingerly dipped her toe into the water to make sure it was safe again before diving in and swimming to the jewel. As soon as she touched it, it let off a brilliant flash and floated up to her eye level.

"I am the Sapphire of Wisdom, one of the four Jewels of Light whose purpose it is to protect this world from the power of darkness." The jewel spoke with a slow, booming voice.

"We come seeking a method to destroy Makurayami. Please lend us your power," Yae said with her head bowed.

"You? You four do not possess the strength to defeat the most powerful demon," the Sapphire of Wisdom replied. "He grows stronger with each second you waste. Your worst fears will be realized, and it is my belief that you are not prepared to confront this threat."

"Then please help us become stronger. I know we can do this. We can overcome any challenge, right, guys?" Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Sasuke cheered in response.

"Very well. I will lend my power to you, the one whose thirst for knowledge is as boundless as the sea, and who is as uncontrollable as the ocean waves. Accept this power--"

"Wait!" Yae interrupted. "I have one question for you. What is it exactly that you do to those you lend your power to? How do you affect the person?"

"Even now, you can not control your inquisitive mind," the sapphire said kindly. "Just know that the four Jewels of Light enhance your abilities, and may go so far as to alter your personality. A great amount of personal strength is required to control us and unlock our true potential. If you lack the will and give in too easily, we will take control of you. But used properly, we will aid you when we are needed the most. This is why certain qualities are required of the bearers. It takes a specific assortment of characteristics to properly use one of the jewels.

"Now, accept this power and go forth to rid this world of the darkness." In a white flash of light, the Sapphire of Wisdom transformed into a circlet with a white band and a beautiful blue jewel in the center. Yae put her hands out to catch the circlet as it slowly lowered.

She slid the circlet onto her head and looked at her reflection in the water to adjust it perfectly. "Well, what do you think?" Yae called out to her companions. "Do you think this would've looked better if I had kept my hair blue?"


	20. The Wise Man's Message

"What the hell is that thing?! And where's my boat?!"

Goemon waved at Impact to thank him for all the help as his friends were beamed down after him. "Wait, that thing didn't destroy my boat, did it?" the disgruntled boatman continued.

Goemon ignored Ichiro and instead addressed Impact. "Why don't you head on back to the Wise Man, Impact? We'll call you when we need your help again."

Impact nodded to his smiling friends on the ground as he slowly rocketed upwards. Ichiro, however, was not about to let this suspected criminal get away so easily. While the four ninjas waved affectionately, Ichiro was shouting and flailing his arms threateningly. "Get back here, you massive hunk of junk! Umm...Impact, was it? Hey, I'm talking to you, Impact! We have to discuss repayment options for my damaged property!"

"Oh, there you are, sir. Didn't notice you there," Ebisumaru said casually. "Umm, about your boat..."

Ichiro's eyes narrowed with fury. "Where is my boat? What did that ugly, oversized monstrosity do with my boat?"

"Well, it wasn't him, exactly--"

"So it was you!" Ichiro pointed a long, thin finger straight at Ebisumaru's forehead. "I should've known better. Even that fine vessel couldn't handle your immense weight!"

Ebisumaru looked down at his stomach for a brief moment. "I'm not that fat," he said. His voice was full of hurt; Ichiro's insult had hit a nerve.

"Listen, it wasn't really any of our faults," Yae interjected before Ichiro could continue accusing everybody. "Let us explain what happened. I know you're probably not going to believe us, but at least let us tell our side of the story. I'm sure we can talk about this situation like civilized adults."

---

"You two can start with this one," Ichiro said as he pointed to a mid-sized steam boat. It had a flawless black coat of paint with a white stripe running along each side. Goemon and Yae cursed under their breath as they each dragged two buckets full of soapy water and sponges up the ramp and onto the deck. "Once you're done here, just move on down the line in that direction. Remember, I expect every ship you get to to be completely spotless at the end of the day. Don't miss a single inch!"

As expected, Ichiro refused to believe that the four ninjas had been attacked by a giant sea serpent that had summoned a wave large enough to completely destroyed his boat. He expected full compensation for his damaged property. Based on what he paid for the boat, as well as his best guess on economic inflation and his wish to get a fair profit out of it, Ichiro estimated that Goemon and his friends owed him just over 1000 ryo on top of the 400 they already paid. He generously agreed to release them from their debt after they cleaned some of his boats, a task he estimated would take them until around the middle of the next day if they worked fast. With no money, nowhere to go, and no desire to cheat the boat man, the four ninjas agreed to stick around.

"Shorty and fatso, follow me." Ichiro motioned to Sasuke and Ebisumaru, who were carrying cleaning supplies of their own. He led them to the next boat. "Start with this one, and move that way. Let me know tonight how many you finish."

"Ooh, pretty," Ebisumaru said with genuine admiration. "What kind of a boat is it?"

"It's a steam boat, just like the last one. You can tell by the chimney-like structure sticking up at the center."

"Steam boat, huh? How does it work?"

"As the name suggests, it runs on steam. Now get to work like your friend up there." Sasuke was already diligently scrubbing the deck.

"Wow, technology these days is so amazing. How much does it cost to build? Can it run out of steam in the middle of the ocean? Does this boat have a bathroom on it?"

"Stop asking me these stupid questions and start cleaning!" The veins in Ichiro's head were beginning to throb, but Ebisumaru continued to stare at him with a hopeful grin on his face. "I have work to do, and if you don't start repaying your debt right now, you're gonna be here for a long, long time!" Ichiro stomped off mumbling something about the world being full of idiots while Ebisumaru dreamily stepped onboard the boat.

"Boy, that Ichiro sure is smart," Ebisumaru said to Sasuke. "Too bad he must be practically blind. I'm not really that fat, am I?"

---

The day wore on, and both teams worked long and hard, making sure that each boat would pass Ichiro's stringent test of cleanliness. At sunset, Ebisumaru and Sasuke were just finishing up their third ship.

"Yeah! We're doing great, Sasuke! I bet Goemon and Yae aren't cleaning these things as efficiently as we are. Go, Sasuke, go!" Ebisumaru cheered.

In reality, Sasuke had ended up doing most of the work on all three ships, and both ninjas knew it. Every time the duo moved to a different boat Ebisumaru would clean with bountiful energy and excitement, but this euphoria would wear off in a short time. So far, Ebisumaru's record for working was around ten minutes. He would spend most of the rest of the time on a particular boat shouting encouraging slogans at Sasuke.

"You know, we would probably finish a lot faster if you'd actually help for more than ten minutes!" Sasuke said with an uncharacteristic amount of impatience. The clockwork ninja turned to his partner and saw his devastated face. He immediately stopped scrubbing, making the tide below the only audible sound. "I'm sorry for that comment, Mr. Ebisumaru. It was completely unnecessary. Ever since we started this adventure, and especially since we found the Emerald of Spirit, I've had trouble controlling my anger."

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke. You're absolutely right," Ebisumaru said glumly. But instead of picking up a sponge and helping Sasuke, Ebisumaru walked to a nearby railing and sat down, letting his legs dangle over the edge. "I contribute nothing to the group."

Sasuke walked up to the railing and stood next to Ebisumaru. "What are you talking about, Mr. Ebisumaru? You're just as vital to the success of this team as Goemon, Yae, or myself."

"Ha! Nice try, Sasuke. My wife gave me the same speech the night before we started this adventure. It actually convinced me to go; I was planning on sitting this one out until she told me that you guys would need me. Now I can tell that that's not the case. You could've done just fine so far without me."

"That is complete and total nonsense, sir! I believe your wife was absolutely right. Yae chose to stay behind, and if you had also decided not to accompany Goemon and I, Daichi would've killed us almost instantly. You saved us--"

"And then almost caused all of our deaths, anyway." Ebisumaru despondently looked down at his bulging stomach.

"But we're still alive, and we emerged victorious against Daichi and two of his siblings. Remember what we told Kaito earlier today? We can't be easily beaten because we are an unbreakable team.

"Mr. Ebisumaru, you are one of only four people who are brave enough to face this and many other threats head on. I truly believe that this is something to be proud of, and that our quests would not be as successful or...interesting without you. Doesn't this thought provide any comfort?"

The faintest sign of a smile formed on Ebisumaru's face. "A little, I suppose. You're a good friend, Sasuke. You can make sure everybody's doing their part, while still being an all-around nice guy."

"And you are the unique and resourceful Ninja of Justice, a true force to be reckoned with on and off the battlefield! Don't ever forget that."

Ebisumaru hopped up and stretched his arms out. "All right, why don't I give you a hand with this cleaning?" 

"Yes, I would really appreciate that. Let's put Goemon and Yae to shame!"

---

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke sat around another dying fire in the same spot as the previous night. They had just finished a meal of fish and wild berries with hardly any words spoken between them. Everybody turned towards the sound of approaching footsteps to see Yae walking towards them after washing at the shore. She had had far too much excitement for one day: fighting, cleaning, and cooking had all cost a great deal of energy, and she was feeling about as talkative as everybody else. Even so, she was the one who broke the long silence among the group.

"Well, I just got done talking with Ichiro. He's done all his calculations and figured out that we only need to clean a couple more boats to completely repay our debt." Yae's voice was dreary, and her eyes were completely devoid of any liveliness. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"Hold on, Yae," Sasuke said as he suddenly stood up. "I think the Wise Man wants to talk to all of you."

Goemon looked at Sasuke like he was crazy. "What are you talking about, Sasuke? Aah!"

Sasuke stood completely still as two lights shot out of his eyes. A fuzzy version of the Wise Man had been formed from the lights and was now floating over the fire. Even though Goemon and Ebisumaru had seen this before, it still startled both of them.

"So, how are things going out there?" the Wise Man asked.

After Goemon got over the initial shock, he replied "Well, we've already found three Jewels of Light, but Sasuke's radar broke. We have no idea where to go next."

The Wise Man sighed deeply. "Why am I not surprised? Where are you now? And which jewels have you found so far?"

"We're up north, near the ocean. And we've got the Topaz of Power, the Emerald of Spirit, and the Sapphire of Wisdom."

"Then you're going to be looking for the Ruby of Courage next. It'll probably take a couple of days just to get there, so I suggest you leave right away."

"We can't do that, Wise Man." Yae had joined the group around the fire pit. "The last demon destroyed the boat we were using, and the owner is insisting that we repay him. We've already started working off our debt, I don't think it would be fair to abandon him."

The Wise Man smiled warmly when he noticed Yae. "So, you decided to go after all, Yae. I'm proud of you. I knew you would make the right choice eventually." Yae looked away ashamedly. The Wise Man had reminded her of the last thing in the world she wanted to think about. "Anyway, I should've known you guys would get stuck doing the noble thing. But you may be able to use it to your advantage. See if you can get the boatman to lend you a boat. Work a little longer if you have to. The Ruby of Courage is on a volcanic island somewhere off the southern coast of Japan."

"Wait, why can't we use Impact? We're almost done here," Goemon said.

"Because nobody knows exactly where this place is. Unless you're lucky enough to catch it right in the middle of an eruption, I think you'd be better off doing a thorough search on the sea rather than a quick scan of the area from the air. I suppose you could use Impact if you really had to, but it may end up taking a long time to spot the island that way. Of course, if Sasuke's radar was still working, using Impact would be a great idea, but of course the inevitable had to happen at the most inconvenient time. Oh well, I guess it could've been worse."

"All right, we'll see what we can do, but I think we're going to be here for awhile if we have to work off the price of a decent boat," Ebisumaru said. "How are things in Edo, by the way?"

"That's another thing I need to talk to you about. A few days ago, nearly everybody in Edo was reporting that a dark mist was infiltrating their homes and temporarily possessing their bodies. It hasn't happened again since then, which can only mean one thing: Makurayami has found a host."

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae were not pleased to hear this. Yae articulated what was surely on everybody else's mind. "Do you have any idea who it is?"

"None. But even though I just told you it would be better not to rush, you have to make sure to work as efficiently as possible. Suzaku told me that it takes several days, sometimes up to a week, for Makurayami to reach his full power inside a new host. My guess is he's been in his new host, whoever that may be, for about three days. Time is of the essence, of course, but don't use that as an excuse to do something stupid. With any luck, you'll be able to get the last jewel and catch Makurayami before he goes back to the Underworld, and you won't end up panicking from rushing. Good luck, everybody." With that, the image of the Wise Man dissolved and Sasuke's eyes returned to normal. The four then separated without a word and went to bed. They had nothing to say as they approached the last leg of their journey.


	21. To the Open Sea

"Please, please, please, please, please!"

"No, no, no, no, and no! For the last time, I'm definitely not lending you one of my boats. If I did, you'd probably just ruin it and use the 'giant sea monster destroyed it' excuse again."

Immediately after beautifying one more boat each, the four ninjas waited on the shore for Ichiro to officially release them from their duties. Although he was quite pleased that it was finally time for them to leave, he became quite irate when they asked him to let them use one of his ships for a few days. Ebisumaru was on his knees begging, but this seemed to do nothing but infuriate the boatman even further.

"Mr. Ichiro, please reconsider," Yae pleaded. "You would be helping us perform a great service for all of Japan."

"A great service for all of Japan?" Ichiro repeated. "What could you possibly do to help Japan?"

Goemon began twirling his pipe in his hand. "Well, surely you've heard of the noble and righteous Goemon, the greatest ninja in all of Japan? Bringer of justice, champion of the downtrodden, second to none in greatness," he said smugly.

Ichiro thought for a moment. "Nope, never heard of him. Sounds like a great man, though." Goemon was so surprised by this response, he dropped his pipe and had to scramble frantically to pick it up. "Anyway, I'm really sorry, but try to think about this situation from my point of view. From what I've seen, you guys don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to taking care of other people's things. I still haven't examined the ships you cleaned, I can only hope they're all still in good condition."

Ebisumaru rose to his feet and gathered all of his friends in a huddle. "Hey, do you guys think we can convince him if I do my Hypnotic--"

"No!" was the unanimous response. Goemon smacked Ebisumaru on the back of the head and whispered "When are you gonna finally give up that stupid dance?"

"Mr. Ichiro, perhaps we can work something out," Sasuke said as he broke away from the rest of the group. "Would you be willing to let us borrow or even keep one of these vessels if we work for another day or so?"

Ebisumaru suddenly became very excited. "Ooh, yes. I'd love to spend more time talking to Ichiro!"

This was one of the worst things Ichiro could possibly hear. "No, absolutely not! Especially if the fat one is going to keep bugging me. Now, off with all of you! I've got work to do." Ichiro turned around and began walking back to his shack.

"Forget it, I'll just call Impact," Goemon said as he reached for the shell. That's when an idea came to him that he thought might give them some leverage over this stubborn boatman. "You know, we can just call our giant robot friend, Impact, to take us out of here," he called.

"Great, why don't you do that? Just get out of my sight, please," Ichiro shouted back.

"Well, you see, he's not so good at landing softly or accurately. He might, I don't know, wreck some of your boats in the process. But I'm really not willing to walk so far away before calling our ride."

This got the boatman's attention. He dashed back to the ninjas and pointed threateningly at them. "You wouldn't dare call him anywhere near here. If he destroys one of my precious ships, I will single-handedly take him apart and force you to work for me for the rest of your lives, whether or not you really can prevent Japan's destruction!" Large droplets of saliva flew towards each ninja's face during this heated speech.

"Very well then, I'll hold off on summoning him for now," Goemon said as he slowly removed his empty hand from his inside pocket. "So, let's make a bargain. Perhaps there's something we can do for you that would convince you to part with one of these fine vessels?"

Ichiro looked from one ninja to the next. He didn't want to risk any of his boats getting destroyed by Impact, but at the same time he was willing to go to great lengths to put as much distance as possible between himself and Ebisumaru. "Well...if you really want something to do, I've got an idea. I want you to find my favorite fishing pole. I dropped it in the middle of the ocean a couple days ago."

"And if we find it, you'll let us use one of your boats?" Yae asked.

"If you find it, you can kee--" He lost his breath and stammered as he tried to deal with the awful taste in his mouth. "You can keep this boat." He motioned towards the nearby ship, which Ebisumaru and Sasuke immediately recognized as the one where they had their talk the previous night. "It's--hey, where is your friend going?"

Yae had ran into the ocean as fast as her legs would carry her. "Oh, don't worry about her. She just really loves swimming," Goemon said. "Please continue."

"Well, it's a steam powered ship that I normally rent out for 1000 ryo a day. However, I'm confident that you wouldn't be able to achieve this goal even if you had all of eternity to do so, so I'll also throw in a full week's supply of bait and other necessities for sea travel if you can somehow manage to find my rod at the bottom of the ocean." Ichiro let out a chuckle in a single, short burst. "Well, I'll get back to my work so you can go and try to accomplish this impossible task. Hopefully this will be a good way for the gods to permanently rid me of tubby here."

"Is this it?" said a voice behind Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke. They moved aside to reveal Yae, holding an ornately designed fishing rod that stood nearly as tall as the kunoichi.

---

On all but the choppiest of waves, the steam boat provided a ride that was both smooth and speedy. Goemon had taken control of the wheel, occasionally looking down at a compass that had been among the supplies Ichiro had given them as part of the deal. Yae stood at the bow of the ship, her eyes closed and her lips forming a smile as the wind lifted her hair and danced with it behind her head. Ebisumaru and Sasuke were leaning on the starboard railing, watching the distant shore rush past as they sped forward. It was in this exact spot that Sasuke had offered his counsel to the downtrodden Ebisumaru. Thoughts of the freedom associated with being out on the open sea occupied the minds of each of them.

"This is a nice deal we got here, don't you think, Goemon?" Ebisumaru said suddenly. Both Goemon and Yae slowly turned their heads towards Ebisumaru. "A fast ship, and pretty to boot!"

"It's okay, I guess," Goemon said. "Ichiro must not clean his ships too often, because the ones Yae and I took care of usually ended up looking a lot better than this."

---

Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke sat at a table in the kitchen below deck, patiently awaiting the meal Yae was preparing for all of them. They had traveled comfortably for two full days now, and wished they had been doing so under more pleasant circumstances. The promise of another difficult fight very soon remained in the back of their minds.

"Here you go, guys." Yae put four bowls of rice topped with freshly caught fish and a sauce created from an original recipe on a tray that she placed in front of the ravenous ninjas. Goemon and Ebisumaru each snatched a bowl so quickly, Yae blinked and was surprised to find that half the food had gone when she opened her eyes again.

"Mmm...this is delicious, Yae," Goemon said. He preferred Omitsu's cooking, of course, but knew from experience that Yae was also a respectable chef.

"Thanks, Goemon," Yae replied as she used the same tray to transport four bowls of miso soup to the table. She sat down and brought some rice to her mouth.

It was at that moment that a thunderous sound was heard from the outside. "What was that?" Yae cried. She put her chopsticks down and ran up the stairs leading above deck. Sasuke followed right behind her.

Goemon was about to join Sasuke and Yae when Ebisumaru said "I don't see what the big panic is about. It could've just been my stomach. I'm starving. I think I'll just stay down here and finish eating."

"Oh, no you don't!" Goemon said as he grabbed Ebisumaru by the arm and hoisted him to his feet. "You're coming with me." He began towing his stubborn companion up the steps.

"But Goemon, I'm not finished with my lunch yet!"

"That doesn't matter! You've got to realize that there are things in this world that are more important than food."

"Really? Like what?"

Goemon and Ebisumaru finally came above deck to find Yae and Sasuke staring at a distant island with a thick gray cloud hanging over the tallest mountain on it. "Well, that looks promising," Sasuke said. "Mr. Goemon, why don't you take us over there?" 

"Great, I saw the island we're going to. Does that mean I can finish eating now?" Ebisumaru asked hopefully.

Goemon sighed and massaged his forehead. Although Ebisumaru was a great friend, there were times where he annoyed him to no end. "Yeah, go ahead," he said as he headed towards the wheel.

Ebisumaru squealed with delight and dashed back downstairs.

---

It didn't take long for the ship to reach the island. Goemon steered the boat near a sandy beach at the bottom of a low cliff and threw the anchors overboard. "We should head for the volcano. Let's go!" he said as he leapt over the side of the boat.

It didn't take long for the group to find a path leading to the top of the cliff. They traveled through a forest, heading straight for the volcano that towered high above them. The smoke became thicker the closer they got. Goemon's throat became constricted from both the dust and his anxiety; he had no idea what to expect from their next foe, the final step before they would finally be capable of putting an end to their enemy's detestable plans.

The dust finally began to clear, and Goemon saw a red-skinned figure in front of him. The demon's back was turned to the four ninjas. Everybody prepared their respective weapons as they readied themselves to overcome this unknown opponent.

"Welcome. I've been expecting you," said the demon, who slowly turned to face the group. Her body was tall and fit, and was covered with armor that protected her legs but kept her arms bare. It was silver and had various blood red symbols adorning it. A black sash was tied around her waist, allowing the ends to dangle at her side. She had short, spiked hair as black as a moonless night, and piercing yellow eyes, almost exactly like her father's. Her crossed arms ended in long, thin fingers and sharpened claws that looked like they could go straight through a person's chest if she pushed against it hard enough. She spoke again, answering the question that she knew was on everybody's mind. "I am Akane." A flick of her wrist, and a wall of flame rose up and trapped all five of them. Even in the center of the circle, the heat was almost too intense to bear. "And I'm not one for small talk," she said with a malevolent grin.


	22. Fire and Water

Akane moved her arm back and hurled a large fireball at her opponents. The ninjas managed to dive out of the way just in time, and when Goemon stood back up he saw that a piece of blackened earth separated him and Ebisumaru from Sasuke and Yae.

Goemon clenched his teeth and growled before charging at Akane with a deafening shout. He swung his pipe horizontally, but his strike was stopped by a flaming sword in her hand. It was a broadsword that looked like it would have been heavy if it was actually made out of metal. Instead, it was composed entirely of fire, and had materialized in a split-second. The ninja and the demon pushed against each other with all their might, but neither fighter was giving in. Akane sneered as she kicked Goemon on the chest, sending him falling on his back. She raised her sword over her head and slashed downward. Goemon met this attack with his pipe, but was losing both sweat and energy from the heat that flowed from the sword.

Akane was winning in her struggle against Goemon. Suddenly, a black blur flew at the demon. She immediately backed away, shrieking in pain, and extracted the shuriken from her arm. Next, a loud pop was heard, and Akane's head spun to the side. Goemon hopped up to his feet and saw Yae with her bazooka at the ready. Akane quickly recovered from the sudden attack and swung her sword at the group. It extended to fill the entire arena, and everybody managed to duck in time to avoid any damage worse than a few singed hairs. Yae shot her bazooka at Akane once again, but the demon jumped straight up in the air before the projectile reached her. The metallic ball melted as it neared the fiery barrier.

"Heads up," said a voice above them. Akane was floating above them, bobbing up and down in the air as she observed her victims. The flaming sword had vanished, but she soon sent a flurry of fireballs down below, one at a time but at a rate so fast, it was difficult to tell. Each of the four ninjas ran around frantically in their enclosed space, occasionally skidding to a halt and turning around in order to avoid colliding with an incoming fireball or one of their companions.

The demon's body became engulfed in flames, and she sped back down to the ground, narrowly missing a collision with Goemon. This was their chance to retaliate; Akane was just recovering from her descent. But the demon proved to be more quick-witted than any of them had anticipated. The ninjas couldn't land more than a few blows before being forced to fall back. Using a combination of both her razor-sharp claws and her weapons, which would appear in an instant and were limited in variation only be her own imagination, she was able to keep them at bay.

Akane's attacks were far from fatal, but she seemed to genuinely enjoy watching and subsequently stopping the ninjas' futile attempts to harm her. Ebisumaru ran at her brandishing both his trusty wooden spoon and his mallet, but Akane shot one hand out to keep him from proceeding forward and swiped at him with the other, leaving three shallow cuts across his chest. A long whip then formed in her left hand, which latched onto Goemon's leg and sent him flying up and then back down flat on his back. When Yae readied her bazooka and pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession, the whip was replaced with a small, fiery shield that stopped both projectiles dead in their tracks. The shield became a two-handed fighting staff, which hit Yae on either side before sweeping her feet out from under her and causing her to fall flat on her face. Within the few seconds that all this was occurring, Sasuke was preparing a special weapon that he thought would help in the fight. He armed himself with two sky blue kunai and hurled them both at Akane, who barely managed to dodge one then the other. She pivoted and held her weapon out. By the time she faced Sasuke, it was a mallet with a gigantic, spiked head. Sasuke, who was too preoccupied with getting more kunai ready to notice this, was sent flying into the corner. Akane had kept the same malicious smile this entire time, even going so far as to chuckle softly after hitting Sasuke.

"No. We can't lose now. Not after we've come this far," Goemon grunted as he picked up his pipe and prepared to charge again.

"Goemon, wait!" Yae whispered as she grabbed his arm and held him back. "That's exactly what she's expecting us to do. You'd be falling right into her trap."

"Well, then how do you suggest we fight?" Goemon hissed back.

"She could easily kill us in a matter of seconds if she wanted to. Look at her facial expression. I think she's just playing with us, or perhaps stalling for time." A small flame suddenly appeared near Yae's foot, forcing her to jump back.

"It's your move. Quit whispering secrets to each other and fight me," Akane taunted.

"You see? She's waiting for us to attack. The only one she's seen as a real threat so far is Sasuke, and that's why she hit him with such a heavy attack." Yae looked in the corner of the battlefield. The clockwork ninja lay motionless on his side. "Unfortunately, that was a pretty smart decision. Sasuke's Kunai of Severe Cold probably would've been our best bet at beating her."

Akane threw another fireball at the middle of the group. The three ninjas jumped in three separate directions. "I'm tired of waiting," Akane said. "There's nothing fun about watching you guys talk to each other."

Goemon, who was on Akane's right, nodded at Ebisumaru, who was directly across from him on the other side of the demon. They both ran full speed at each other, meeting at Akane's position in the middle. The demon hit both ninjas with a backhand that sent them flying back, leaving her momentarily vulnerable. Yae, who had managed to sneak behind Akane, jumped over her opponent and slashed at her face on the way down. A black gash now ran down the face and over the eyelid of the demon.

Akane was fuming. Her piercing eyes stared straight into Yae's, and the kunoichi felt her strength and courage slowly leave her. Even so, she stood her ground and raised her katana. Goemon and Ebisumaru each ran towards their friend, but were blocked off by two new walls of flame and had to stop immediately to avoid being scorched. The only signs Yae could see of her two companions were two flailing shadows on either side of her. Even with the relatively small amount of effort she had expended so far, beads of sweat were rapidly forming on Yae's forehead and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. She stared at her foe as a long, thin blade formed in her hands.

Akane thrust her sword forward. Yae turned to the side and leaned back as she watched the blade slide forward just inches in front of her nose. She ran forward and made an upward cut that was easily blocked by the demon. There was very little room to maneuver; Yae knew it would be difficult to emerge victorious from this duel with her deteriorating condition. She was growing tired, and her short breaths were spaced farther and farther apart.

Yae slashed aggressively at her opponent, pushing her closer to the foot of the volcano with each strike. But it didn't take long for her to lose her momentum. Her arms were sore. She gasped for breath as tears began to form in her eyes. Each attack was slower than the last and came at a larger cost. She couldn't remember ever being this exhausted during a fight. She screamed as she lifted her katana, which felt unusually heavy in her hands, and slashed downwards. Her blade met Akane's near the demon's chest. "Not bad. But now it's my turn," she said with her usual vicious smile.

Akane, who showed no sign of stress throughout the whole duel, pushed against Yae's katana, throwing the ninja off balance. She then jabbed Yae in the stomach with the hilt of her sword before kicking her in the face and sending her falling back. The kunoichi groaned as she tried to get up, but had to quickly roll out of the way when she saw Akane approaching from above with her sword pointed straight at Yae's heart.

A million thoughts ran through Yae's head as she tried to pick herself up off the floor and prepared for the next attack. "_I must...persevere. I can't give up. For the sake of my friends, and for all of Japan...I must defeat her._" Yae, still on her knees, held her sword above her head to block an incoming strike from Akane. "_Focus, Yae. We can do this._"

With newfound strength, Yae pushed against her opponent's sword with all her might. Akane stumbled backwards, a look of both shock and fear in her eyes. Yae rose from her knees, her katana gripped tightly in both hands. She could feel an unknown power coursing through her veins. In addition, her sharpened focus made it seem as though time itself slowed down as she drove her enemy back.

What Akane saw was a monster in the form of a young woman with a cold, emotionless face. Her attacks were now so swift, even the demon's lightning fast reflexes were barely sufficient to counter them. Yae made several dents in Akane's armor before kicking her in the stomach. The demon stumbled back and eventually found herself on her knees, where she finally got a good look at her reenergized opponent. Yae's eyes glowed a ghostly blue, with no trace of any pupils or her usual emerald color. The ninja made an overhead swing at the demon, which she blocked. Their roles were now reversed. The harder Yae pushed against Akane's blade, the stronger the light that emanated from her eyes became. The blue jewel in the center of her circlet was pulsating with perfect rhythm. "It--It can't be..." the demon said. A second blade formed in Akane's free hand, which she swung at Yae's ankles. The ninja nimbly hopped over the new sword, giving the demon just enough time to get up and prepare to continue this fight.

Akane spun and swung both swords. Yae jumped over one and blocked the other before stabbing at the demon, a strike that was deftly parried. Yae was forced back a bit before regaining the upper hand and pushing her opponent back. But just before reaching the border of the arena, Akane blocked an attack at her side with one sword while striking with the other. Yae deflected the attack, but was forced back once again. This cycle continued for some time, a measure of which neither Yae nor Akane were completely sure of.

Yae's arms and legs seemed to control themselves. All she knew for certain was that this power, this renewed strength, agility, and focus, was proving to be difficult for her opponent to handle. And she loved it. She loved the fact that she had a seemingly infinite amount of energy, and that it was causing her foe to feel pain and fear.

Yae stabbed at the demon with excessive force. There was a sound of sliding metal as Akane's armor split at that point, followed by a scream of pain. Finally, the tip of Yae's katana had met demon flesh. The kunoichi's face remained as emotionless as it had this entire time. Only her eyes changed in intensity as she pushed her blade deeper into the demon's stomach. Akane brought both blades down towards Yae's head. The ninja quickly pulled her katana back and blocked the incoming attack.

"Ready, Sasuke? Go!" shouted a voice from somewhere outside of the narrow, fiery hall. The clockwork ninja flew up in the air, passing above Akane and Yae. He threw several blue kunai at the demon before falling back to earth on the other side of the fire. The two walls slowly receded, as did the circular barrier. Goemon soon saw that many of the projectiles thrown by Sasuke had found their target. Light blue kunai were embedded in both of Akane's feet, in her left arm, and in the back of her neck. Her blood was dripping or flowing onto the floor from all of these wounds. The rest of the weapons were scattered and soon regained their usual gray color.

Akane, on her knees and too weak even to keep the fires going, was now at eye level with Yae. The kunoichi held the katana parallel to the ground with the sharp edge pointing upwards and slowly pulled it back. "Yae, are you okay?" Goemon asked. Yae turned her head towards Goemon, furious that someone had interrupted her before she could deliver the killing blow. Goemon became nervous when he saw her eyes and the glowing Sapphire of Wisdom. "Yae? What happened to you? Yae?"

Slowly, Yae's posture became more relaxed. The Sapphire of Wisdom's glowing became weaker, and her normal green eyes soon replaced the cold blue ones. She fell to her knees and began breathing heavily. "What--What happened?" she asked weakly.

Goemon knelt down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Wait, so you don't remember anything that happened in there?"

Yae shook her head. "Not really," she said. "I remember...I remember I was driven to the point where I was almost too weak to fight, but between then and now, I'm not really sure what happened."

Akane chuckled softly. "If you can't even control the Jewels of Light, you will never be able to defeat my father. It's hopeless. You should just give up now and submit to his rule."

"Never!" shouted Goemon. Yae gave him a signal that let him know she was now well enough to stand. He helped her up before turning his attention back to the demon. "We won't submit to his tyranny, and we can't let his evil deeds go unpunished."

"So be it. If it's worth it to sacrifice your lives and the lives of those you care about, then go ahead and fight. I suppose I've got to be put in that stupid container now." Goemon took this as his cue to take the white sealing container out. "But before you do that, I'll make sure that you never get your hands on the Ruby of Courage inside this volcano!"

The ground below the ninjas began shaking violently. Goemon had a foreboding feeling about what was coming next, and fumbled with the top half of the container. Just as he removed it, a geyser of lava shot out of the volcano behind Akane. Ebisumaru and Sasuke ran back towards the shore as fast as they could as Akane's body split into tiny flames that were sucked into the sealing container. "Now let's get the hell out of here," Yae said as soon as Goemon put the top back on the container. She grabbed his wrist and sprinted away, the lava following right behind them.

Yae, who was quite a bit faster and slightly taller than Goemon, dragged her friend through the forest, weaving in and out of the foliage. Since his feet rarely reached the ground through this entire trip, Goemon nearly crashed into several trees on the way down. Soon, the ship and the open ocean were in view. Yae jumped off the cliff above the beach, but let go of Goemon's wrist in midair. Yae's landing was graceful, but Goemon lost his balance after hitting the sand below and fell on his face. Yae grabbed both of his legs and pulled him back under the shelter of the cliff, mere seconds before the lava cascaded down.

Ebisumaru and Sasuke had also made it safely to the shore. Ebisumaru and Yae were doubled over, breathing heavily, while Sasuke was watching the lava flow downwards in front of them. Goemon wiped the sand off his face and clothes. "I guess we'd better just wait this out," he said. "So Yae, you really don't remember anything about your duel with Akane?"

"You were in there for an awfully long time," Ebisumaru said. "Just over half an hour, I'd say."

Yae couldn't believe she had been fighting the demon that long. She tried her best to reconstruct the events that occurred within the walls of that fiery prison. "I remember...I remember I was losing all my energy, and then...and then I just got it all back, and then some. After that, my memory's kind of vague. I can't provide much more information than that. I just know that whatever was happening, I was enjoying it. It's difficult to explain, but there was a powerful, thrilling feeling. As for details of the fight...I really don't know."

"Your eyes were a weird blue color and the sapphire on your circlet was glowing when the fire went down. Do you think that has something to do with it?" Goemon asked.

Yae thought for a moment. Her eyes widened at a sudden realization. It was all starting to make sense. "Of course! I think I've got it figured out. Sasuke, are you sure you don't remember anything at all about what happened to you the other night?"

There was no ambiguity about what Yae meant by "the other night," but Sasuke provided even less information about his experience than Yae gave about hers. Yae and Sasuke explained what happened when Sasuke was taken over by the Emerald of Spirit.

"So, is it really safe to use those things?" Goemon asked after Sasuke and Yae finished with their story.

Yae shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why not. I mean, there's no doubt it saved my life. But I still don't quite know what stopped it...I mean, the Sapphire of Wisdom told me that a jewel may take control of its bearer, but there weren't a lot of details there, either."

"Hey, look! The lava flow is slowing down," Ebisumaru said excitedly.

Indeed, it seemed that the last of the lava was finally falling over the edge of the cliff. Everybody looked out towards the ocean in anticipation, which turned to shock when they saw the condition of their ship. It had tipped over, and what was the top half minutes earlier was now embedded in a thick layer of molten rock. Ebisumaru shook his head and clicked his tongue. "What a shame. Looks like that one really didn't do much better than the first one."

---

The ninjas waited a few minutes more for the lava to cool before making the trek back to the volcano. The terrain was dramatically different now; everybody had to avoid hot, molten rock scattered throughout the path. Even the volcano had been changed by the eruption. It was now little more than a bunch of rocks scattered in and around a giant crater. "My guess is it couldn't handle the sudden intensity of Akane's eruption," Sasuke said.

However, there was one stone that caught Goemon's eye. It shone a bright red among the blacks and grays of the others. Goemon ran over to it, yelping every so often because of the intense heat that still emanated from most of the rocks.

Goemon found a relatively comfortable place to stand and knelt down to pick up the jewel. Proudly, he lifted it over his head. They had found it, the fourth and final Jewel of Light. Suddenly, it began pulsating, and a voice was heard echoing throughout the area. "I am the Ruby of Courage, one of the four Jewels of Light whose purpose it is to protect this world from the power of darkness."

"All right! The last one! I guess that means it's finally time for the great Goemon to receive one of these things!" said the hopeful recipient.

"Don't be so sure, wise guy," the ruby said. "I have no desire to help the proud and impatient."

"Err--That's not--I mean, it would be a great honor if you, umm..." Goemon spouted quickly.

Behind him, Yae was trying her best to restrain her laughter at Goemon's verbal clumsiness. She translated on behalf of her friend. "What he means to say, is that we have already found the other three Jewels of Light, and now we ask for your help in defeating Makurayami."

"Ha ha, of course I know that. I was just playing with you guys," the jewel said. Goemon was completely taken aback by this response and nearly fell over from shock. "Okay, but seriously. If you want to defeat Makurayami, you've got to hurry. As we speak, he's using his new host to open up a portal into the Underworld."

"Do you have any idea where this portal is located, by any chance?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, it's..." There was a long silence as each of the ninjas leaned forward in anticipation. "Aw, I don't really know. Sorry." Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae each felt like pulling their hair out from frustration, and Sasuke accidentally hit the red buttons on each side of his head, causing his ponytail to shoot straight up in the air. For some reason, Sasuke always seemed to forget that those two buttons were not put there for decoration. "But hey, don't panic. You guys must be pretty smart if you've come this far, I'm sure you or somebody you know can figure out where a good spot to look would be.

"All right, what was I supposed to say next? Oh yeah!" The Ruby of Courage made a sound as if it was clearing its nonexistent throat before continuing in a pretentious tone. "I will lend my power to you, the one whose courage burns inside him like a never-ending flame and provides light in the darkest of times. Accept it now, and go forth to rid this world of the darkness." There was a bright white flash as the giant ruby metamorphosed into a small ring similar to Ebisumaru's, but with a red jewel instead of a yellow one. Goemon slipped it onto his finger.

"So, once again we've got no idea where to go next," Ebisumaru said. "That seems to happen to us a lot, don't you think?"

"Why don't we go back to Iga and talk to the Wise Man about this?" Sasuke suggested. "If he knew where all the Jewels of Light were, maybe he knows where Makurayami will probably create his portal."

Goemon nodded before taking the conch shell and putting the small end to his lips.


	23. Fearing the Worst

"Wise Man, are you here? Wise MAAAAN!" Many people considered Ebisumaru to be obnoxious at times; but, on the bright side, it meant he was good at getting people to notice him.

Not this time, though. The four ninjas had entered an apparently empty house. "That's strange," Ebisumaru said. "Sasuke, where do you suppose the Wise Man's run off to?" 

"I'm not sure. He almost never leaves the house anymore, as far as I know," Sasuke said.

The four ninjas split up, occasionally calling out "Wise Man!" or something similar, to which they received no reply. They met back in the foyer, confused and slightly irritated. They were just about to leave when they heard a sound coming from the other room. "Isn't that where that trap door was?" Goemon asked as each of the ninjas crept cautiously towards the room in question. They stood to the side of the door frame and peeked inside.

The sound slowly grew louder. It sounded like a giddy child giggling uncontrollably, followed by a few short coughs. Sasuke could immediately determine the source of the sounds based only on these few clues. "It's the Wise Man," he said excitedly.

Sure enough, the trap door creaked open a few seconds later, and the Wise Man ascended the last few rungs of the ladder, carrying a few magazines rolled up into a narrow tube in one hand. He mumbled to himself as he slowly moved up and went to close the trap door. "Oh, there's nothing like a little alone time with my favorites to get this old timer exci--Waah! What are you doing here?!"

The Wise Man stood in the back of the room, shaking like a leaf about to fall off a tree in autumn. He stared wide-eyed at each of the ninjas as his cheeks slowly turned a bright red color. He kept the hand with the magazines firmly behind his back.

"Wise Man, what were you doing down there?" Sasuke asked. Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae groaned and rolled their eyes. They couldn't believe Sasuke still hadn't figured out the Wise Man's dirty little secret.

"Oh, I was, um, ahem, that's none of your business, my boy," the Wise Man said nervously. "But why are you all here? I thought I told you guys that you don't have any time to waste."

Everybody quickly explained what had happened since the Wise Man last saw them. "So, do you know where we should go next?" Goemon asked.

"Is there any place in Japan that might have a strong connection with the Underworld?" Yae inquired.

"Hmm..." The Wise Man was about to move his hand from behind his back to his chin, but realized his mistake and put the opposite hand there instead. "The only place I can think of that may have that kind of energy is the Stone Circle of Ugo up north."

"Isn't that the place we teleported to Kyushu from while it was floating up in space?" Ebisumaru asked. A nod from the Wise Man confirmed this.

"Well, then I guess that's where we're headed. Let's go, guys!" Goemon said.

"Hold on, Goemon. I want to check on Impact before you guys go. You know, to make sure he hasn't suffered any major harm recently," the Wise Man said before Goemon even turned around.

"Why? Impact hasn't been in any fights since we got the Sapphire--"

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but knowing you guys, it certainly wouldn't hurt to double check, heh heh." The Wise Man passed between the ninjas, quickly bringing his hand in front of him as soon as he was on the other side of the group. He walked out the door, mumbling to himself the entire way.

The Wise Man walked right in front of Impact and tilted his head up. "Impact! I told you to give me some kind of warning if they were coming or if you were going to get them," the Wise Man shouted. "Stupid robot, can't even follow one simple little instruction," he grumbled as he walked back into the house, putting his hand behind his back once again.

"Okay, looks like he's in pretty good shape. Good luck against Makurayami, you're probably gonna need it," the Wise Man said.

"That was fast," said Sasuke with deep admiration. The Wise Man moved off to the side and allowed the clockwork ninja to run outside. He was followed by Yae, who stopped momentarily to shake her head disapprovingly at the Wise Man. Ebisumaru was the next to run outside, his arms waving in circles and nearly hitting the door frame on his way out. Goemon was just about to follow the others when the Wise Man stopped him.

"Goemon, hold on a second. I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but...well, Omitsu's been missing for a while, and--"

"What?! You don't--You don't think...?" Goemon stammered. He couldn't bring himself to articulate his worst fear.

"I don't know. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about. Maybe she's just sick or something. Anyway, you should get going." The Wise Man put his free hand on Goemon's shoulder. "And no matter what happens, never, ever give up. You must remember that everybody in this world and the Underworld is depending on you."

Goemon gently pushed the Wise Man's hand off of his shoulder. He turned his head to the side and stared down at the floor before finally taking a deep breath and slowly walking out the door. He stopped before going too far and said, without turning around, "Wise Man, you really should try to control that habit of yours. You're setting a bad example for Sasuke."

---

Ebisumaru was in his usual seat next to Goemon's, while Sasuke and Yae sat in two chairs behind him. There was an uncomfortable silence as Goemon prepared for liftoff. Ebisumaru and the others didn't dare to speak or even make eye contact with their longtime friend, but Goemon didn't care. Nothing anybody said could help him relax.

Finally, they were off. As soon as the Wise Man's house was nothing more than a distant speck below them, Ebisumaru took a deep breath and broke the silence. "We all heard what the Wise Man said to you, Goemon." Goemon growled unpleasantly in reply. "And acting like a mopey grump isn't going to help anybody, especially Omitsu. If that demon really has taken her, I just want you to remember that, as your best friends, we will do everything we can to save her."

"I know that, Ebisumaru," Goemon said in a barely audible tone. "I'm mad at myself more than anything else. I can't believe this. I told her, I specifically told her that she was probably going to end up getting hurt. I said that the only thing she had to do to keep me from going was to ask me to stay behind. I should've insisted on protecting her. I can't believe I was selfish enough to put my own desire for an adventure over her safety."

"Let me guess. She told you that you should help all the people of Japan instead of just worrying about her, right? My wife said the same thing. And I think they're both right. It's a huge burden, but somebody's gotta carry it. And remember that it's a lot easier when you've got others to share it with.

"Let's say Makurayami got Omitsu, which we don't even know for sure is really true. Then once again, we're performing a service for all of Japan, but we're also trying to save Omitsu specifically. Which I don't mind, of course!" he added quickly after a reproachful glare from Goemon. "But this isn't like when she was captured by Magginesu or Bismaru. I know this is probably a weird thing for me to say, but try to think about this logically for a moment. What could you have done against Makurayami? Nothing, that's what. He would've taken her, and you couldn't have done a thing to stop him. And then all you could do is sit there and hope that she someday returns to you relatively unharmed.

"But now, you're here with all of us and you have the necessary weapons to fight him. We can save her, or whoever the unlucky victim is. I don't know about you, but if he had taken my wife, the most important person in my life, it would just give me more of a motivation to increase his punishment."

"I've said something like that to Omitsu so many times. But this time just feels so...different," Goemon said. "If that damned freak's inside of her, I can't imagine how much pain she must be in right now. I hope she can forgive me for abandoning her this time."

"Of course she will, Goemon. I'm sure she knows that you'll come to her rescue, like you always do. So I hope you'll stop beating yourself up for 'abandoning' her, as you call it, and just do your best to make sure Makurayami gets what he deserves."

There was another long silence as Goemon processed what Ebisumaru said to him. He had been through so much over the past few days, and now he faced the possibility of his worst nightmare over that time span becoming a reality. He sighed and nodded. "You're right, Ebisumaru. Thank you. You're a great friend, I don't think I give you enough credit for that."

Ebisumaru smiled and relaxed slightly in his seat. He had gotten through to him, and there had been no violence or shouting involved. "You're welcome, Goemon. Glad I could help. Just remember, fight on, and never give up."

Goemon turned to Sasuke and Yae. "You, too. It means a lot to have your support and friendship."

Both ninjas smiled warmly in response. "It is an honor to fight alongside you, Goemon," Sasuke said.

"We'll always be there to help you, Goemon. Don't ever forget that," Yae said.

"Hey, isn't that the Stone Circle of Ugo over there?" Ebisumaru asked as he pointed to a ring of stone pillars not too far in front of them. Each of the pillars was topped with a shadowy orb, and each orb was connected by a string of electricity. "I think we found him. Looks like something's going on down there."

Impact landed next to the nearby lake with a loud thud. Goemon quickly pushed some buttons, and a second later his chair was dropping through a hole in the floor. The same thing soon happened to Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae, and they were on solid ground once again within a matter of seconds. They shivered as they watched Goemon trudge through the shallow layer of snow far ahead of them. He just managed to reach the opening to the Stone Circle when there was a blinding flash. When it had receded, Goemon was on his knees in the exact same spot, his hands holding and pulling at large clumps of his blue hair.


	24. A Nightmare Realized

Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae hurried to Goemon's side. There was no doubt about what he saw, and it was their responsibility to make sure Goemon didn't do anything foolish or drastic as a result.

Standing on the opposite side of what used to be stairs, but was now a pile of rubble, situated at the focal point of the stone pillars, was a woman. Her hair was let down into a tangled clump, and parts of her kimono were torn to shreds. Her arms were raised up to the structures before her, and the tips of her fingers glowed an eerie shade of blue. "No...Omitsu," Goemon said, just loud enough for everybody present to hear him. Looking upon the person in front of them, the others never would have guessed that this disheveled mess of a woman was the usually clean and elegant Omitsu.

Omitsu lowered her hands and spoke, but when she did so, her voice was almost exactly the same as Makurayami's; there was no trace of the waitress's kindness. "I'm afraid Omitsu as you know her is long gone." She turned around to face the ninjas.

Everybody gasped at what was now staring at them. It was definitely Omitsu, but most of her skin was a sickly green and two large fangs stuck out of her mouth and over her bottom lip. Her eyes were a dull yellow and completely devoid of any shred of humanity. Her physical appearance was nearly that of a demon, and the thought that his girlfriend may not ever be able to return to normal even if he managed to drive Makurayami out of her crossed Goemon's mind. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and stood up. "Well, I hope you haven't gotten too comfortable in there, because we found these!" Goemon held up his hand with the ring and pointed it at Omitsu.

Omitsu looked startled for a moment, but then grinned and started chuckling. "So you found the Jewels of Light, I see. But unfortunately for you, it appears that you don't know how to use them. Am I correct in assuming that you managed to defeat my four youngest children in battle?"

"What's going on?" Goemon whispered to Yae. "Why aren't the jewels working?"

"How should I know, Goemon," Yae said. She addressed the demon. "Speaking of your children, I think you should know that they all planned to destroy you after killing us. Not exactly a happy family, I would say."

"I am well aware of this fact," Omitsu replied. "To be honest, I was hoping you would get rid of them for me. It saves me the trouble of killing them myself."

The trend continued as the ninjas were faced with one shocking revelation after another. "You--You would send your own children to their deaths?!" a wide-eyed Sasuke asked.

"They were treacherous. I know they've always been jealous of Dochuki, and they wanted to kill me for always showering all my affection on him. If one of them had succeeded in destroying all of you, the survivors would have come back and tried to use the Jewels of Light to kill me and Dochuki." The demon-possessed Omitsu thought for a moment. "Well, I shouldn't say all of them were treacherous. I am quite upset about Akane's defeat. She was the only one that had even a shred of loyalty to me. What a shame.

"Of course, if any of them had returned and tried to destroy me, they would have failed. There is no being in this world or the Underworld that can defeat me. I was fairly confident that most of my children would be killed or captured by my hand or yours around this point in time. No matter what their eventual fate would have been, I would end up victorious in the end."

Goemon slowly shook his head. "You're sick. I can't believe anybody would treat their own family members like that. And no matter what you may say, I will get Omitsu back!" Goemon took several steps towards Omitsu's position.

"Ah, ah, ah. Take another step..." Omitsu's left hand became a long thin blade, which she swung up to her neck. "...and she dies." Everybody was shocked by what they saw; they had no idea Makurayami would have this much power over his host's body.

"You wouldn't..." Goemon growled.

Yae finished Goemon's sentence. "Because you'd be stuck. Where would you find another host if you did kill her?" She held onto a small sliver of hope that they would somehow be able to gain some leverage over the demon.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Omitsu replied. "It would be worth it to see the anguish that each of you experiences as a result of her death. And I'm sure there's someone else, somewhere in the world, that will serve as a suitable host." Omitsu looked up at the stone pillars; the orbs at the top were diminishing in size and intensity. "Well, look at that. I wasted so much time chatting with all of you, the energy that's going to create the portal leading me back home is running low. I should just have my fun with all of you as quickly as possible and get back to work." Omitsu thrust her hand, which had returned to normal, at the ninjas. Four thick, black ropes appeared in a puff of smoke behind her and slithered in the air towards each of the ninjas. Omitsu twisted her wrist, and the ropes wrapped around each of the ninjas so tightly, they could barely struggle or even breathe. "Try to free yourselves all you want. Those bonds will never break.

"Even now, she calls out to all of you. Especially you." Omitsu pointed a long, thin finger at Goemon. "She begs you for your help, and she pleads with me to release her. But why in the world would I do that?" The ropes that were wrapped around the ninjas from their shoulders to their ankles became even tighter. Suddenly, an intense pain shot through their bodies. They all screamed in agony and hoped their bodies would be able to survive this torment. It only lasted a few seconds, but the pain was almost too much to bear, and a diminished form of this anguish lingered on long afterwards. The bodies of each of the four wanted to collapse from discomfort, but the ropes pushed against them and kept them on their feet. Thick, gray smoke was floating up from Sasuke's back, while the pungent odor of burnt flesh came from the others. Omitsu was grinning viciously the entire time. Apparently, watching the ninjas suffer was quite amusing. "It's a curious emotion, this thing you humans call love. Because of it, watching all of you receive a little electric shock has caused Omitsu quite a bit of stress. At the same time, it prevents you from bringing harm to her, and subsequently to me. Why place such great importance on such a useless, even inhibitive feeling?"

Goemon, who had to struggle just to breathe, was too weak to give a rebuttal. He and the others watched as Omitsu turned around and raised her arms up again. "_This can't be happening! Omitsu's counting on me,_" Goemon thought. "_Why isn't that stupid jewel doing anything?!_"

WIth great effort, Goemon managed to cough before speaking. He thought he saw a small wad of blood fly forward and land in the snow before him. "I'll...I'll never forgive you...for what you've done to Omitsu..." He lacked the strength to say much more than that. Omitsu, meanwhile, completely ignored the ninja and continued the ritual to open the gateway.

By this time, the orbs on top of the pillars were significantly larger than they ever had been while the ninjas were there. They vibrated and pulsed, growing even bigger with each rhythmic beat. The electric wire holding them together became brighter, and the crackle it emitted became louder. There was a loud bang, and a black light shone from all of the orbs. Each light gathered right in front of Omitsu, forming a circle about the size of her head. "Now, open!" she commanded.

There was a sound of rushing air as the circle compressed momentarily and opened wide enough for a person to walk through. Omitsu's hair and kimono flapped in the wind as she stood at the entrance to the Underworld, a black portal that seemed to go infinitely deep, yet on the side appeared as thin as a sheet of silk. A red spiral lined the inside and spun around in a dizzying pattern.

Without turning around, Omitsu shouted over the sound of the unearthly gateway. "If you somehow manage to escape, you would be wise not to follow me. Only suffering awaits you down this path." And without another wasted moment, she walked into the portal, where she immediately faded into transparency before disappearing entirely.

Goemon struggled harder than he ever had in his entire life. He hoped that, behind him, his friends were doing the same. "No! Get back here! I won't let you get away! OMITSUUUUU!"

Suddenly, a red light began shining from somewhere within Goemon's ropes. The harder he tried to wriggle out, and the more he screamed, the stronger the light became. The restraints holding Goemon in place glowed a pure white before dissolving into nothingness from the bottom to the top. Goemon brought the Ruby of Courage, the source of the liberating light, up to eye level. There was another burst of red light before the ring on his finger reverted to its normal state.

Goemon looked behind him in amazement as the ropes wrapped so tightly around his friends also began to disappear. Each of them collapsed as soon as they were freed, but they quickly got up and stared fixedly at the portal. "Hurry, we don't know how long that portal's going to stay open," Sasuke said. He ran forward with Ebisumaru and Yae, leaving a dumbfounded Goemon behind.

Sasuke dove headfirst into the gateway, with Ebisumaru following close behind. Yae was about to step through when she realized that Goemon hadn't budged at all since being freed from Makurayami's restraints. "What are you doing Goemon?!" she shouted.

There was no response or even any movement from Goemon. "Come on!" Yae said as she grabbed his wrist and ran towards the portal. Goemon, who had apparently not expected this, was lifted off his feet and dragged into the gateway into the Underworld.


	25. Lessons from Yae and Suzaku

Down they went, in large circles that matched the swirls that seemed to have no end below them. Goemon and Yae became disoriented and slightly nauseous as they tumbled down and watched the outside spiral pass by them. The only sounds they heard as they rushed downwards were their elongated moans, which became louder the further they went.

Finally, the spinning stopped, and they saw that they were finally in a place that looked somewhat normal. Of course, their idea of normal didn't include stalagmites and dirt that was a red color, but compared to the portal this was a nice relief. Unfortunately, all they could really see of this place was the floor accelerating towards them. "I've got you guys!" said a familiar voice. Ebisumaru ran below them and held his arms out.

The ninjas continued screaming and plummeting, and Ebisumaru adjusted his position accordingly. Yae landed in Ebisumaru's arms with a small sigh, but Goemon was alarmed to see that nothing separated him from the ground below. He was about to release a loud and vulgar curse, but landed flat on his face with a loud crash before he had the chance to do so.

"Oh, wow. Sorry, Goemon," Ebisumaru said as he put Yae safely on the ground. "I guess I miscalculated how fast you were falling." Goemon made sounds that seemed like they may have been words, but they made no sense due to the fact that his face was embedded in the dirt. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?" Ebisumaru asked as he helped Goemon up.

Goemon forcefully ejected a few small rocks and clumps of dirt from his mouth. "I said, did you really expect to catch both of us?" Ebisumaru thought for a moment before grinning and shrugging his shoulders. Goemon shook his head and brushed some dirt off of his clothes. "Anyway, how did you manage to get down here without hurting yourself? And where's Sasuke?"

Ebisumaru patted his plump stomach proudly. "Sometimes, it helps to have a little extra weight to absorb the shock. Sasuke got a little beaten up during the landing, but he'll be fine." Ebisumaru pointed over his shoulder, where Sasuke was trying to tighten the screws that held his arms in place, but was having some difficulty with it because of his round hands. Yae walked over to assist him. "Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where Makurayami's gone off to. Just look around."

Goemon did so to see that this part of the Underworld was in a complete state of disarray. Houses were destroyed, and smoke rose from the rubble. This destruction continued for as far as he could see. The entire area was deserted, making this already creepy place even more frightening.

"Hey! It's about time you guys got here!" said a voice from behind Goemon. He turned around to see Suzaku running towards them. She looked at each of the ninjas with their respective jewels. "I see you managed to get all four Jewels of Light. He's headed towards Dochuki's prison in his new host, a young woman." Goemon shifted nervously. "Is something wrong, Goemon?" The spiky-haired ninja made no verbal reply, but looked down at his feet.

"That young woman is Omitsu," Yae said. "She's...she's Goemon's girlfriend." Goemon shot an angry look at Yae. "Suzaku, we can't get the Jewels of Light to work properly. Can you tell us how to use them?"

"I'll try to explain it on the way. Come on, we have to get over to the tower where Dochuki's spirit is being held!" Suzaku ran ahead of the ninjas and signaled for them to follow her.

"I'm not going anywhere," Goemon said grumpily. The others looked at him with their mouths wide open. Of all the strange things Goemon could say, this was probably the most outrageous.

"Wha--What did you say?" Yae asked, not making any effort at all to hide her surprise.

"I said, I'm not going," Goemon repeated. He folded his arms across his chest like a pouting child. "I can't bear to look at Omitsu knowing that monster is causing her to feel all kinds of unimaginable pain."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. This is--Where is all this nonsense coming from?"

"Goemon, I thought you were so eager to teach Makurayami a lesson. What happened?" Ebisumaru asked, a look of genuine concern on his face. "What about all that stuff you said on the way to Ugo, and everything that happened once we got there?"

"Don't act so surprised. I'm doing exactly as you told me, Yae. I'm thinking things through logically instead of making stupid, rash decisions," Goemon said. "And Ebisumaru, I can't believe that you, of all people, would convince me that we could save her! You were there, you saw that the Jewels of Light did absolutely nothing against Makurayami! I thought you were my friend, Ebisumaru. I never imagined that you would fill me with false hope like that!"

"Mr. Goemon, please calm down!" Sasuke pleaded. "Yae and I asked Ebisumaru to try to comfort you because you've been such good friends for so long, and we were all certain it worked. I don't understand why you're acting like this, but it's unlike you, and everybody needs your help right now, especially Omitsu."

"He's right, Goemon," Suzaku said. "The Jewels of Light work best when their power is combined, so you'll have the best chance of defeating Makurayami if you go now with the others. And if you do nothing, not only will there be nothing to stop both worlds from being thrown into darkness, but Omitsu will certainly die! You have to at least try!"

"You! You were the one that started us down this path of misery in the first place!" Goemon pointed an accusatory finger at Suzaku, who said nothing but stared intently into his eyes, silently begging him to come to his senses. "You convinced me that this journey would be worth putting the love of my life in harm's way, and forced that thought to haunt me in the back of my mind this entire time!"

Yae slowly moved closer to a shaking Goemon. He lowered his arm, but glared furiously at the kunoichi. Yae bit her lower lip and looked down to the ground next to her feet. Her plan was risky and would most likely have many negative ramifications, but desperate times called for desperate measures. A frustrated Yae stared straight into Goemon's eyes before she pulled her arm back and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. The force of the slap sent Goemon spinning and falling to the ground, and the clap produced by the impact of Yae's hand to Goemon's cheek rang out and echoed throughout the desolate Underworld. Everybody remained motionless and silent except Yae, who grabbed Goemon by the shoulders and shook him violently.

"Okay, I've only got one good rant in me, and here it is," Yae began. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it's really starting to scare me. You've GOT to get a hold of yourself, Goemon, or else everything we've fought for and all the sacrifices we've made will mean nothing! I want to say some things that I think you really need to hear, and we don't have a lot of time so please don't interrupt me with any stupid crap about how we can't possibly win or how any of us are responsible for your ridiculously sour outlook.

"First of all, you have no right to blame any of us for Omitsu's fate. All three of you knew that there was a risk of the ones you care about becoming a slave of that monster. But even so, you accepted this mission, leaving those people behind so you could do something to at least try to stop him. And why did you do that? Why did you make that initial sacrifice of leaving the people you care about so deeply, perhaps never being able to see them again? I think you need to be reminded of that reason, Goemon. You did it because every person in both worlds needs you. You did it because nobody else would do it, and if you sat there on your hands and did nothing, millions, maybe even billions of people would suffer. I know I'm not the best person to tell you this. I mean, I didn't stay behind because I felt like I had an obligation to protect somebody. I stayed behind because I was worried about keeping my job. I still can't believe how selfish I was, but my point is that your sense of justice was strong enough to realize that, as a righteous ninja, you don't do what you do just for yourself or even for just one other person. You do it for anybody that needs your help. The only one who is responsible for what happened to Omitsu is Makurayami. Not Suzaku. Not Ebisumaru. And certainly not yourself.

"Secondly, we can win. As soon as you stop thinking like a loser, and instead focus on doing everything you can to give this guy what he deserves, you give yourself the potential to win. You heard Suzaku, she's going to help us get the Jewels of Light to work properly. You shouldn't doubt yourself so much. No matter how bad you think things have gotten, Omitsu's not beyond saving. But if you sit here and do nothing, then she might as well be dead, and we might as well just bow down to Makurayami right now. We have to at least try! You can't just give up now, when we're so close to finishing this! I--I won't let you."

By this time, Yae was shaking from head to toe. She closed her eyes momentarily and took a breath before opening them again and continuing. "One more thing before I let you go, Goemon. If I'm responsible for making you think this way, if I've somehow convinced you that it's always a bad idea to act based only on what's in your heart instead of what's in your head, I'm..." She sniffed and closed her eyes again. When she opened them, small pools of water began forming at the tips. She took another deep breath, her exhalation long and uneven. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think like that. I said that because...well, because I didn't want you or anybody else to get hurt. But it looks like following my advice may have caused you pain anyway. This isn't the time to think with just your head, Goemon. Logic will tell you that this is a hopeless endeavor, but don't listen to it! Look at what's really in your heart, I think you'll find the strength to fight."

Yae loosened her grip on Goemon's shoulders and gently moved her hands up and down his arms. She sighed and spoke again, in a half-whisper that the people behind her had to lean forward to hear. "Please don't give up on Omitsu, Goemon. I know you'll end up regretting it someday. I can't thank you enough for what you did for me in Zazen. Now it's my turn to return the favor. I hope I was able to help you as much as you helped me. You're such a caring person, Goemon, more than you'll ever know. Why not draw on the strength of the love you feel for Omitsu? I bet if you do that, all the ghosts, demons, monsters, and whatever else is out there won't stand a chance against you."

Yae let go of Goemon and stood up as she extended her hand to him. "So what do you say? Will the noble and righteous Goemon, the greatest ninja in all of Japan, the bringer of justice and champion of the downtrodden, sit here and wallow in his despair? Or will he stand strong, and reinforce his right to that title as he strives to vanquish this great evil?"

Goemon stared into Yae's soft emerald eyes. They were slightly glazed from the few tears that had formed and threatened to fall from their precarious positions, something Goemon had never seen there before. This was all the proof he needed of her genuine concern and the strength of their friendship. He grinned as he put his tough, thick hand in Yae's smaller, more delicate palm. She returned the smile as she helped him to his feet.

Suzaku, meanwhile, gazed intently at Goemon's hand. "Ebisumaru, let me see your ring," she said as she held her own hand out. "No, not your wedding ring! The Jewel of Light, let me see it!" She studied the Topaz of Power wrapped around Ebisumaru's finger for a brief time before turning back to Goemon. "Now Goemon, let me see your ring."

There was a moment of anxious silence as Suzaku examined the red jewel situated in the middle of the ring. After staring at it for some time, Goemon noticed a small, barely visible crack on the outer edge. He wondered how Suzaku had noticed it so quickly, if that was in fact what she was looking at.

Suzaku released Goemon's hand and brought her head up, a deathly serious expression painted on her face. "This is worse than I thought," she said. "Come on! We've gotta hurry!" She turned around and began to run in the presumed direction of Dochuki's prison.

"Hey, wait! What's worse than you thought?" Goemon shouted as he and the others ran after her. "What's going on, Suzaku?"

Suzaku ran a little further before gradually slowing to a stop and turning around. "Goemon, that little...outburst of yours probably wasn't entirely your fault. I found a small fracture in the Ruby of Courage, and I don't think it was caused just by your rough landing. Makurayami's getting stronger by the minute, and he's somehow managed to gain the greatest amount of control over you."

Everybody looked at her with blank stares. There was no movement, except for Ebisumaru, who moved just his arm to scratch his head before putting his hand back down at his side. Suzaku sighed as she went into greater detail about the situation. "Look, Makurayami embodies everything that the Jewels of Light are not. Fear, sorrow, hatred, and prejudice." She pointed to Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae in order as she listed their respective opposing forces. "He's draining the power of the Ruby of Courage in particular, and Goemon's becoming adversely affected by it. My guess is that the pain he felt when he saw that Makurayami possessed Omitsu gave the demon an opening to instill fear in his heart. And that's why he was losing the will to fight. Goemon, you're lucky you have such a great friend like Yae to bring you back to your senses."

"So, you're saying that Makurayami's partially possessed me?" Goemon asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that."

Goemon glared at Yae. "What?" she asked casually when she eventually noticed him looking at her.

"You slapped me," Goemon whined.

Yae shrugged her shoulders. "It looked like you were losing your mind. I had to get through to you somehow."

"I don't know why we're all standing around here discussing this. We've gotta keep moving!" As soon as she finished speaking, Suzaku turned around and once again began sprinting down the path to the prison.

"Hey!" Goemon called out. The ninjas followed Suzaku, who was considerably faster than any of them. "Hey, Suzaku! Weren't you going to tell us why the Jewels of Light are broken?"

"They're not broken," Suzaku replied, turning her head back momentarily, and then forward for a second before turning it back again, repeating the cycle every so often to make sure everybody was following her and that she didn't accidentally run into a wall or stalagmite. She slowed down slightly to make sure she didn't get too far ahead of the ninjas. "It's just that conditions aren't ideal for them to work properly. Any number of factors could be responsible for that. One possibility is that the host isn't trying to resist Makurayami hard enough."

"Hold on!" Goemon yelled as he skidded to a halt. The other three ninjas followed suit. Goemon and Ebisumaru were hunched over and gasping for air, while Sasuke and Yae watched them and tapped their feet against the floor impatiently. "How could you say that? How can you even suggest that Omitsu's not trying as hard as she can to break free from Makurayami?"

Suzaku turned her head once more and was about to give a response when she noticed that all four ninjas were standing far behind her. She slowed down and eventually stopped, her mouth wide open as she looked at Goemon and Ebisumaru. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" she groaned. "Why do you guys keep stopping?! We're almost there!" Suzaku pointed to a tall, cylindrical stone structure in the valley at the foot of the hill they were situated on. The hill went down in a steep incline, but the ninjas were too far away from the edge to see exactly what was waiting for them down there or at the foot of the tower.

"What do you mean, 'for Pete's sake'?! You run way too fast," Ebisumaru said between huge gasps for air. He finally caught his breath and stood up straight, his fingers stroking the bottom of his chin as if in deep thought. "Say, who is this 'Pete' fellow, anyway? That's really going to be bugging me for a while."

Yae slapped her forehead and screamed in frustration. "Are you serious?! Suzaku, are you sure the opposite of power is sorrow and not stupidity?"

Suzaku ignored both Ebisumaru and Yae and instead addressed Goemon. "Look, I can't say for sure what Omitsu's experiencing. I've never been possessed by Makurayami. But what I do know is that the host can usually only sustain a sufficient amount of resistance for a brief period of time, no matter her strength or her desire to be free. Your job is to make sure that conditions are optimal for the Jewels of Light to work. One of the things that entails is getting the host to fight against Makurayami at the right moment. Timing is going to be especially critical since the ruby is damaged, but I think you guys'll manage. Now, come on! No more stops." And without any further ado, Suzaku disappeared from sight as she ran down towards the tower, hoping that the numerous delays wouldn't mean that they were too late.

---

The immediate area around the prison had not been spared from the destruction. Omitsu stood with her back to Suzaku and the ninjas, her hand placed flat against the center of the door. Two guards lay unconscious on either side of her, the first Underworld denizens the ninjas had seen besides Suzaku since they arrived.

Just as the ninjas came to a stop in front of the tower, a filled circle around Omitsu's hand began to shine with a blinding light. Some of the light faded away to reveal an intricately designed pattern that encircled and slithered towards the center of Omitsu's palm from every angle. "Well, so much for getting here early," Suzaku said in an irritated tone.

Omitsu turned around at the sound of this unexpected voice. Her eyes shot open at what they saw. "What?! How did you--" She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head rapidly before continuing. "Well, I suppose that doesn't really matter, does it? The important thing is that you have ignored my advice and made a foolish choice by coming here. I will make sure it is the last and biggest mistake any of you ever make."

Omitsu held her arm in front of her, her palm parallel to the ground as she moved it in a slow, circular motion. "Come to me, souls of the damned, and destroy these pests!" she shouted. Two holes formed in the ground, leading as far down as the eye could see. Mere seconds after the circles appeared, a bulky human-like figure slowly climbed out of each one. They were each missing an eye, and what little skin they had was a pale blue and looked like worn out leather. The spots where no skin was present exposed sections of a moldy skeleton. The holes behind them closed as they stared at the ninjas with nearly toothless grins.

"Omitsu!" Goemon shouted. "I know you can hear me. You've got to fight this!"

Omitsu looked into Goemon's loving eyes. For the first time since seeing the real Omitsu, Goemon thought he saw a glimpse of her kindhearted nature present in them, the windows of her soul allowing her true self to peek through. It disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, however, replaced once again with the cold, heartless Makurayami's eyes. This brief moment caused a chill to run down Goemon's spine before giving him a renewed confidence. There was still hope.

The door to the tower creaked open as soon as Omitsu faced it once more. She quickly went inside and shut the door, leaving the ninjas to deal with the two zombies that separated them from her.


	26. Ascending the Tower

The hideous creatures began limping towards the ninjas, arms outstretched and hoping to grab onto delicious flesh. "They can't stop us. We've come too far to lose to a couple of pathetic zombies," Goemon said as he spun his pipe before pointing it at the approaching monsters threateningly.

"Yeah! That's more like it, Goemon!" Yae aimed her bazooka at the corpse directly in front of her, eventually pulling the trigger and leaning back slightly with the recoil. The zombie stumbled back as its arm fell off, but soon continued to march forward. Its disconnected arm clawed its way through the dirt alongside it. Sasuke dashed along the side, diving forward to stay out of reach of the arm on the floor. He saw a hole where the monster's arm had been seconds earlier and threw a lit firecracker bomb into it. Years of practice meant Sasuke was quite good at hitting small targets with the bombs, and his skills didn't disappoint him this time. The bomb rolled into the zombie's body, making small clanging noises as it collided with bones until it stopped somewhere near the waist.

Meanwhile, Ebisumaru's ribbon had latched itself onto the other zombie's leg. The Ninja of Justice tugged on it as hard as he could, forcing the corpse to land on its back. It flailed wildly as it attempted to get up, but to no avail. Goemon pulled out a large coin and grinned for a moment before hurling it towards his foe with full force. The coin burst into flames and hit its target. The monster convulsed before the fire spread all over its body. At the same time, the bomb resting inside his partner's skeleton exploded. Tattered clothes and dried blue skin rained down on the ninjas.

Yae stabbed her katana into the hand of the autonomous arm. It stretched and shook as if in pain before trying to wriggle free. "Well, that was easy," Yae said with a smile on her face.

"I don't think Makurayami really expected us to be defeated by those things," Suzaku said. No sooner had she spoken than the hand caught under Yae's blade disappeared in a puff of black smoke. The same soon happened to the charred remains of the second zombie.

Suzaku walked up to the door of the prison and placed her hand on the circular symbol at the center. It swung open ominously, inviting any who dared to enter and brave the dangers inside. Suzaku stepped inside, followed by the ninjas. The door closed on its own as soon as all five were inside, locking them into the beginning of the end of this long and difficult journey.

---

Just like the exterior, everything on the inside of the tower was constructed of stone. A massive pillar in the center and a solid wall on his right made Goemon feel cramped. A single torch hung on the wall and provided a minimal amount of light for everybody in the room. There were no visible attempts to make the scenery more pleasant; even the most resourceful and imaginative person would have to agree that this was a dull and boring place. The air was heavy and musty, which added to the feelings of being trapped in a stone cage. To reinforce this idea even further, the door leading back outside blended in with the rest of the wall and disappeared. There would be no turning back at this point.

"Well, there's no place to go but up," Suzaku said. She stepped onto a stairway that hugged the central pillar, the only means of proceeding further into the tower.

---

"Watch out, Goemon!" Yae shouted before spinning in place and slicing the head off of a zombie behind her.

Goemon jumped back after stepping on a stone that depressed under his weight. A large arrow with a polished silver head shout out of the wall on the right and embedded itself into the wall on the left. But that wasn't what Yae was referring to. A bat screeched as it flew wildly at Goemon's face. The ninja noticed just in time and ducked before they could collide, causing the bat to crash into the wall right next to the arrow.

Goemon and his friends had encountered several types of traps and many more types of foes during their ascent of the tower. The snares had been easy enough to detect and avoid, and the enemies scattered throughout also failed to provide much of a challenge. The ninjas were much too fast for any of them to handle. Even Suzaku helped fight against the zombies, rats, bats, skeletons, and other such opponents with an impressive array of magical attacks that nobody even realized she was capable of. Like the two zombies outside of the tower, every defeated foe would eventually vanish in a puff of smoke.

Goemon was at the head of the group, with Ebisumaru and Sasuke right behind him. Yae and Suzaku brought up the rear, stopping the weak but steady stream of monsters that would appear out of nowhere and chase them up the stairs. Sasuke leapt straight at a zombie in front of him, digging his kunai into its skin and dragging them through its body on the way down. Ebisumaru, meanwhile, slammed his mallet down onto a rat that had just materialized out of the wall on his left.

"Do we have to go much further to get to the top, Suzaku?" Sasuke asked.

"I've never been here, so I can't say for sure." Everybody was quiet for a moment to make sure no other enemies were approaching. Not a sound could be heard anywhere around them. "But it seems like we've been climbing for a while, so hopefully it won't be much farther. Let's keep moving."

Fortunately, Goemon only had to go up a few more steps to find a change of scenery. They were now in a large, circular room, which was apparently situated on top of the pillar they had been going around for longer than any of them cared to figure out. Torches with small, purple flames lined the walls and provided the room with an eerie light. The chamber was completely empty.

Goemon wandered into the center of the circle, and was soon followed by the others. As soon as Yae and Suzaku stepped off the stairs and onto the cold tile floor in this room, the last section of stairs rose up and covered the only hole in the floor with a loud bang. Once again, they were trapped, with no way to go but forward.

Goemon looked around before walking to the outer edge of the room, on the opposite side of where the stairs had been seconds earlier. "Well, this must be the way out," he said, pointing to a door that was barely distinguishable from the wall, save for a doorknob that looked like a skull with blood red eyes. Goemon reached for the doorknob, his heart pounding in his throat as his hand inched towards it.

Suzaku gasped loudly as she watched Goemon from afar. "No! Goemon, don't touch that!" she yelled.

"What? Why not?" Goemon asked, the slightest hint of a chuckle in his voice. He had wrapped his fingers around the doorknob just before Suzaku had shouted the warning. Suddenly, a low growling was heard, causing Goemon to freeze in place.

"That's strange," Ebisumaru mumbled. "My stomach doesn't usually growl this loudly right after a fight."

"Ebisumaru, I'm pretty sure that wasn't your stomach," Suzaku said. "Whatever made that sound is probably going to be a lot harder to deal with than a hungry belly."

The sound was heard again. Goemon concentrated to try to determine where to look in order to see what his ears were hearing. It seemed to originate in this room, but there was clearly nobody there besides Suzaku and the four ninjas. If it wasn't here, then perhaps on the other side of the wall, not too far from where Goemon was standing...

The growl turned into a howl, louder and more fearsome than before. Goemon backed up until he nearly tripped over Sasuke, and stared wide-eyed at the door that he had been standing in front of. The skull-shaped knob now had its mouth open, and thick gray smoke swirled within. It slowly began pouring out and become four massive paws on the floor. The smoke piled up, and within seconds the ninjas were staring at a wolf with the same red eyes as the skull. Every part of it churned in the air, the smoke that made up every detailed inch of its fur and body trying to rise up and fly away but being brought back down into its usual shape by an invisible force. It growled and bared its razor sharp teeth. Like the rest of its body, these were made of smoke, but nobody was too keen on testing whether the teeth or its equally threatening claws could really cause any damage. The skull doorknob wobbled for a moment before falling off and rolling to the side. The door melted into the wall, making escape impossible.

"Goemon, do you remember the apology I gave you right after we got here?" Yae asked. Goemon nodded feebly in response. "Well, I think I'm going to take that apology back."


	27. Charming the Beast

The wolf jumped several feet in the air and landed in the center of the group of heroes. Everybody scattered just in time and turned around to see it pace in a circle and glare at all of its potential targets, trying to decide which one to attack first. Goemon held a coin in one hand and his pipe in the other, while Ebisumaru pulled two shurikens out and Yae readied her bazooka. Sasuke bent his knees in preparation for making a quick movement and guarded his body with his kunai. Suzaku held a blue ball of energy between her hands, keeping it from flying out prematurely.

Goemon grew tired of waiting and hurled the coin with a loud grunt. The Flaming Ryo approached the wolf, but rather than hitting and igniting it, the coin went right through its body and bounced off the opposite wall. The creature was apparently unhurt, but quite irritated. It turned to Goemon, its growling intensifying before it raised its head and howled loudly. Everybody backed away after feeling the shiver ripple down their backs from this war call. The wolf leapt at Goemon, who dove out of the way and ended up inadvertently tackling Yae to the ground.

"You've really done it this time, Goemon!" an irritated Suzaku said. She moved her hands back and shot them forward, finally releasing the magical attack from her grip. The sphere zoomed away from Suzaku and towards the wolf. It slowed down slightly as it mingled with the smoke inside the wolf's body, but soon came out on the other side without having diminished in size or intensity. It hit the wall with a crash and formed a small hole. "Well, if that didn't work, then maybe..."

Meanwhile, the wolf was clawing and snapping at both Goemon and Yae, who hadn't been able to run or effectively attack the smoke creature. Goemon had swung his pipe and Yae had swung her katana, but every attack went right through their opponent. Yae had also tried shooting it, but had about as much success as Goemon had when he had tossed the first coin of the battle. "Suzaku!" Yae screamed as she ducked under a swipe from a ridiculously large paw. "None of our attacks are working against this thing!" Suzaku, who was busy readying her next spell, didn't respond.

Sasuke ran forward and dove at his opponent, going right through it just like every attack had. The wolf paid the clockwork ninja no mind, but instead swung its paw at Goemon and Yae again. The smoky tail hit Sasuke and caused him to stumble into the wall.

All this time, Ebisumaru was holding one of his shurikens in front of him and carefully adjusted its position. "All right, just a little to the right," he mumbled. "Perfect!" He pulled his arm back and threw it. Like every other attack, the shuriken went right through the wolf and got stuck in the wall.

"Aah! Ebisumaru, watch where you're throwing those things!" Goemon shouted. The wolf's snapping jaws forced him to turn back around. "Great, thanks a lot for ruining my only chance to escape!"

"All right, watch out, guys!" Suzaku said. This time, her hands were wrapped around a ball of red light that emitted a constant buzzing sound. She hurled it forward, but it had the same effect as the previous magical attack. A slightly peeved Sasuke brushed off the dirt and small rocks that fell on his head from the hole in the wall that had formed after the magical attack hit it. "Well, I hate to say it, but if that didn't work, then I'm all out of ideas," Suzaku said. "I don't know what we're going to do against this thing. It's like a spirit, no typical attack is going to hurt it."

"_It's like a spirit, no typical attack is going to hurt it._" This last sentence ran through Ebisumaru's mind several times. He grinned, even though he was watching Goemon and Yae dodge razor sharp claws as Sasuke and Suzaku stood helpless on the sidelines. "Finally!" he shouted, his arms shooting triumphantly into the air. "It is finally time for Master Ebisumaru, the Super Ninja of Justice, to show what he can do! Nobody can stand up to my charms, not even this overblown dog." Ebisumaru marched proudly into the center of the room and began concentrating with all his might.

Goemon knew what Ebisumaru meant by "charms," and he knew from experience that it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for any of them. "Hold on, Ebisumaru! There's no need to do anything that drastic. Don't you think there's an easier way to deal with this? Oof!" Goemon's momentary pause in movement gave the "overblown dog" a good chance to strike. The wolf clawed at Goemon and hit him with the bottom of its paw. Goemon was sent flying clear over Yae's and Sasuke's heads and crashed headfirst into the wall after sliding on his stomach.

With Goemon sprawled on the floor elsewhere, Yae had slightly more room to maneuver. She jumped up and kicked against the wall, the force of which sent her flying gracefully over the wolf's head. She landed behind her opponent and ran to help Goemon up.

"No good, Goemon. I've already started preparing." Ebisumaru took a huge breath and held it in for a second. A small squeak escaped from his rear. "Oh, come on. I know I can do better than that!"

"Hmm...I suppose I'd better close all my vents then..." Sasuke mumbled.

Because the wolf was now chasing Goemon and Yae around the room, Sasuke and Suzaku had moved closer to the center, making sure to keep a safe distance away from Ebisumaru, whose face was now contorted into a shape that was both frightening and amusing at the same time. It was a shame that nobody was in the mood to laugh.

"Ebisumaru, I really wish it didn't have to come down to this, but if you're going to do it anyway, HURRY UP!" Goemon yelled. He and Yae were barely able to scramble ahead of the wolf's fluid bounds. Its movements were almost mechanical, and it showed no sign of exhaustion, unlike the two ninjas it was pursuing.

"You can't rush these things, Goemon!" Ebisumaru yelled back.

Everybody except Ebisumaru was growing anxious. Suzaku had both hands over her mouth and nose and hoped it wouldn't be as bad as last time, though she knew deep down that it would probably be a lot worse. Goemon and Yae continued running and screaming hysterically, trying to get Ebisumaru to hurry and get this over with. Nearly another minute passed before anything else happened.

But when something did happen, it was a disaster as much as it was a blessing. Ebisumaru made a sound that nobody could have guessed was actually human as thick clouds of green gas spread from the center and filled every inch of the room. It was difficult to tell exactly where the noxious fumes had originated from because it surrounded Ebisumaru on all sides, moving to the outer edge with remarkable speed. Suzaku's eyes watered as some of it slipped through her fingers, and she fell face down on the floor so fast, a cracking sound upon impact made it seem like she may have fractured a bone.

The mist reached the wolf, Goemon and Yae at the same time. The smoke creature reeled back as its body became filled with Ebisumaru's bodily fumes, while Goemon and Yae both slowed down and started coughing violently. Yae collapsed almost immediately, but Goemon managed to linger long enough to say "Wow, Ebisumaru. What did you eat?" before falling flat on his face right in front of Yae.

The wolf recovered from the poison mixing inside his body and slowly made his way to the unconscious Yae. The creature's insides were now made up mostly of the green gas, which was exactly what Sasuke had been hoping would happen. He quickly hurled two icy blue kunai straight towards the center of the wolf's body. The kunai slowed down as they passed through the monster and came out on the other side as their usual gray color. The gas inside the wolf began to liquefy after being exposed to this extreme cold, and Sasuke threw another blue kunai to freeze it. The wolf slowed down and came to a stop with its now solid jaws mere inches from the back of Yae's head.

Ebisumaru plopped down onto his butt, his head moving in circles. "Wow. That was tough," he mumbled, his words slurring together as he spit them out. "I'm going to take a nap now." Ebisumaru was about to add "Good night" when he tipped backwards and fell fast asleep. He began snoring loudly seconds afterwards.

Sasuke, careful to keep his mouth closed so he wouldn't suffer the same fate as Goemon, Yae and Suzaku, walked over to his completely frozen opponent. He pulled out a firecracker bomb and, with a small grin on his face, lit the fuse. The wolf's eyes darted back and forth, resting on Sasuke and the bomb before they grew wider. The clockwork ninja jammed the firecracker bomb down the wolf's throat and calmly walked away. A few seconds later, there was a loud explosion and a pained howl. Sasuke turned around to see no sign of the wolf, though the gas still lingered in the chamber. Everybody was still lying on the floor, unconscious or asleep. The stairs leading to the bottom of the tower reappeared, giving the fumes a way out of the room.

"_And now I have to think of a way to wake all of them after some of the gas clears up_," Sasuke thought.


	28. The True Nature of Darkness

"Ow! Get back here, you stupid robot!"

"Aah! What the--What do you think you're doing, Sasuke?!"

"Yowch! H-Hey, what's the big idea?!"

"Unn...I don't want to get up yet, Mommy."

Immediately after destroying the wolf, Sasuke had decided to sit cross-legged in the same spot waiting for the gas to clear out. It turned out it was a slower process than he originally predicted. He grew impatient before long and decided he would wait only as long as absolutely necessary before waking everybody up. When he thought that a sufficient amount of the fumes had left the room, he opened his mouth to test the air. The odor was still pungent, but not nearly enough to knock out a healthy adult. He looked around to find that nobody was waking up, and let out a quiet "Hmm" as he got to work reviving his friends as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Sasuke walked over to Goemon and rolled him onto his back. He nudged him in the side with his foot, but he still remained silent and motionless. "Get up, Mr. Goemon. We have to keep going." Still no response. Sasuke's next plan of action certainly wouldn't be painless, but it would definitely be quick.

The clockwork ninja walked up next to Goemon's head. "I'd like to apologize in advance, sir," Sasuke said with a slight bow. Without straightening up his back, he smacked Goemon across the face twice in quick succession.

Goemon, who was understandably upset at being awoken in such a manner, snarled and tried to grab Sasuke by the neck. But the quick little robot had already run over to Yae and repeated the process, not even bothering to try and wake her up gently.

Goemon stood up, rubbing both his cheeks. Because Sasuke had round, metallic hands, being slapped by him was more like getting hit in the face with the hilt of a sword. He took one sniff of and covered his nose and mouth, trying to leave as little room for air as possible. He saw that Yae, and eventually Suzaku, were doing the same. "Ebisumaru, how could anybody possibly keep something that smells that foul inside their own body?" he said in a high, nasally voice.

"Unn...I don't want to get up yet, Mommy," was Ebisumaru's semiconscious reply. Goemon stumbled over to his friend's form, still dizzy from breathing in Ebisumaru's bodily fumes, and calmly moved Sasuke out of the way. Taking in a big breath and holding it, he pulled out his trusty pipe and slammed it down onto Ebisumaru's stomach.

Ebisumaru sat up with a quick "Oof!" and rubbed the back of his head. He wet his mouth a few times and turned his head up to face Goemon. "Oh, hey, Goemon," he said sleepily. "So, what do you think? Did I save us or what?"

"Yeah, I guess you did. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm mad as hell at you and Sasuke right now." His nose was still covered and pinched tightly, and he chose his opportunities to breathe very carefully.

"Hee hee, your voice sounds funny," Ebisumaru said as he pointed a flabby finger at Goemon and slowly pulled himself up to his feet.

Goemon remained silent as Ebisumaru poked fun at him, but that didn't keep his thoughts from lashing out at him. "_Couldn't be any weirder than you sound all the time, you gassy..._"

"Hey, the door's reappearing!" Yae said excitedly.

Sure enough, the door frame had materialized, and the doorknob had rolled back in front of it before ascending and putting itself back in its original position. The mouth of the skull closed, and its eyes regained their usual red color. At the same time, the stairs that had led them up here moved back up flush against the floor, even though a few stray wisps of the putrid green gas still remained.

"I don't think I need to explain why you need to keep your hands off the doorknob, Goemon. Just find some way to open the door without touching the skull," Suzaku instructed. Ebisumaru couldn't stop himself from giggling at Suzaku's altered pitch. Losing so much of his internal substance had made the Ninja of Justice quite giddy.

Goemon nodded and walked to the door. He decided that the air was finally clean enough for him to take a shot at full breaths again. He removed his hands from his mouth and placed one of them on the bottom of his chin. After a moment, he smiled and lifted his knee slowly. With a roar that rang throughout the room, he shot his leg forward and slammed his foot flat against the door, just below the doorknob. _BANG_!

Suzaku let out a small yelp, partially because of the sound and partially because she was scared that this would lead to the same result as last time, but was relieved to see the door swing back and forth on its hinge instead. "Well, I guess that works," she said as she walked past Goemon and into the next room, which was simply a small square chamber containing another staircase leading up.

"There's nothing subtle about what you do, is there Goemon?" Yae asked jokingly.

---

Two flights of stairs later, Goemon and the others stopped in front of a large set of double doors. They were painted a dark blue and seemed to beckon all who were present and courageous to open them and find out what awaited them, while at the same time wordlessly warning of an evil force that waited for them on the other side. Goemon's heart beat faster and against his throat.

"This must be it. This is the room where the soul of Dochuki is being held," Suzaku said, confirming Goemon's suspicions. He breathed deeply as he felt his heart skip a beat. This was it. The end was near.

"Makurayami's going to be waiting for us on the other side," Suzaku continued. "We're running out of time, so we can't afford any mistakes. Choose your words and actions carefully." This comment was addressed to everybody, but she shot a quick glance in Goemon's direction specifically. "Focus all of your energy into the jewels, try to get through to Omitsu, and no matter what, don't give up. It will be a difficult fight, but if you work together I know you can win. Is everybody ready?"

Everybody nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath as they gazed intently at the door. With great determination in her eyes, Suzaku gripped both doorknobs, turned them, and pushed the giant doors open.

---

"Why is it that you insist on following me?"

The ninjas found themselves in a large circular chamber, similar to the one where they had fought the wolf earlier. Omitsu stood directly opposite to them with her back turned to the intruders. In front of her was a massive white crystal. And inside the crystal was...

"Is that...Dochuki?!" Goemon said.

Indeed, Dochuki had not changed much since they last saw him. Thanks to the ninjas, he had been reduced to nothing more than a floating gray mask. He showed no signs of life, and Goemon was hoping to keep it that way.

"Now do you see what you have done?!" Omitsu yelled. The tower began to shake, and in a moment large cracks formed in the walls and ceiling, which split apart and fell to the ground far below them. "I will make all of you pay for what you've done to my son!" Omitsu turned around to face the ninjas, letting them see the violent rage that burned in her eyes.

Goemon summoned the courage to speak to the demon, trying his best to follow Suzaku's advice while still coherently articulating his feelings of anger. "Makurayami. You've committed a crime against me that is far worse. You've taken that which is most precious to me and caused her unimaginable harm. You can't expect me to turn around and look the other way after you do something like that. Your fear may have gripped my heart at one time, but now--"

Suzaku kicked Goemon in the shin. "Goemon! What did I say just a few minutes ago?! You weren't supposed to tell him that!" she hissed.

Omitsu let out a few deep chuckles. "Oh, is that so, Goemon? I can't say I'm surprised. After all, everything originates in darkness. In a way, I'm with everybody and everything at all times."

The ninjas were visibly confused, but Suzaku remained steadfast, staring intently at Omitsu with eyes that had formed into narrow slits. "Don't listen to him, guys," she said through clenched teeth.

"Look on the ground behind you. What do you see?" The ninjas kept their heads up. They weren't about to let Makurayami out of their sights, and they all knew the answer to his question without having to follow his instructions. "You see your shadows. Everything casts a shadow, and it follows you wherever you go. Wherever there is light, there is also darkness. But notice that light isn't always present wherever there is darkness. Darkness is the dominant force in this world. Not light. And that's why people are ruled primarily by fear and hatred rather than courage or kindness. You know this as well as I, Suzaku. I don't understand why you tell these four it is worthwhile to try and fight that."

"Because the darkness is always conquered by the light."

"Sometimes, Suzaku. Not always. Sometimes. And I assure you, this won't be one of those times."

"We can't let you get away with this," Goemon said. "Dochuki needs to stay imprisoned forever, and--"

"Well, in that regard, you've already failed. The ritual to awaken Dochuki's soul has just been completed." Suzaku groaned and cast her head down upon hearing this. "You're too late, and if you had listened to what I told you in your world, I may have even considered letting you live under my rule for a short time. Dochuki, on the other hand...he may not have been so forgiving.

"Well, talking to all of you is dreadfully boring, and I know the one thing that will make my son happiest is seeing your dead bodies lying before him. So without any further ado, I will fulfill your destinies and mine, and destroy all of you personally."

Omitsu's eyes lit for a moment before circles materialized on the floor below Goemon, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, Yae, and Suzaku. They each tried to jump outside of it, but were kept in by an invisible barrier. Goemon pounded against it for a few seconds, but soon felt something cold wrap around his neck. His arms were quickly brought down to his sides, and he looked down to see that he was in the grasp of a large, black, skeletal hand. "Aw, damn it! Not again," he shouted. He looked around to see everybody else caught in a similar trap and trying to break free with all their might. The claw wasn't as tight as the ropes, but movement was still nearly impossible.

"So, tell me my friends," Omitsu said in a low, quiet voice before laughing to herself. Like everything else about Makurayami, this sent chills down Goemon's spine. "Are you afraid of the dark?"


	29. Focus

The ninjas and Suzaku each felt their bodies dip lower before being released and soaring in the air. Just as they reached the peak of their flights, they were each met with the same hand that had held them seconds earlier. It was balled into a fist and punched them back down to the ground so hard, pieces of the floor flew upward upon impact.

Omitsu gracefully floated up and towards her opponents, staying fairly high off the ground. She opened her hand and reached it out, and Yae's neck was soon trapped inside of it. "Ah, the lovely lady that resisted me so strongly," Omitsu said. "You shall be the first to die."

Yae felt something cold slowly move from below her chin and creep closer to her chest. Like a thick molasses, it spread with a sickening squishing sound. Yae wanted to scream, but her yells were blocked by the constriction of Omitsu's hand on her throat. She knew this powerful grip was much stronger than anything the dainty Omitsu was capable of. The demon inside of her had made her an unbelievably powerful foe.

The kunoichi wondered for about half a second whether her companions would place more value on her well-being than Omitsu's and save her, but came to the conclusion that they wouldn't. With her katana in her right hand, she quickly raised her arm in an upward slash against the arm that was suspending her in midair. Omitsu gasped and released Yae, who hit the ground in a kneeled position and slowly stood up.

"What the hell are you doing, Yae?!" Goemon shouted. "I swear, if you do anything like that to Omitsu again, I will--"

"Goemon, I'm sorry, but it was the only way," Yae said defensively. "Face it. Omitsu's our opponent, and she would have killed me if I had done nothing. I'm pretty sure that cut won't do any major damage, anyway."

"But you--" Goemon didn't want to accept it, but Yae was right. It was hard to deny that Omitsu would have taken Yae's life right there if nobody had done anything. "All right, but from now on, guys, don't..." He took in a deep breath. "Please, try not to hurt her. It kills me to see Omitsu get hurt, even if Makurayami is inside of her."

Meanwhile, Omitsu was holding the wound tightly. She scowled as her gaze moved from her arm to her opponents; Makurayami's plan to deter the ninjas from attacking had proven unsuccessful. The hand that had been strangling Yae was covered with strips of the black material that had made its way down her neck, which was now normal except for a light red hand-shaped imprint. Omitsu pointed her palm towards the ninjas. The black strips shot forward, and all five targets moved moved out of the way of the projectiles.

"Umm...so what are we supposed to do, then?" Ebisumaru said to no one in particular.

"It'll be tough, but we can still win without physically attacking her," Suzaku said. "First, Omitsu has to resist him like I said before. Everybody, try to get through to her."

Omitsu, still floating high above the ninjas, raised a fist in the air. "Get over here, now!" Suzaku shouted as Omitsu's hand became a light shade of blue. The four ninjas took their positions behind Suzaku, who moved her hand in a circle and made a barrier to encompass all five of them just as a bolt of lightning came crashing towards them. It hit the shield, but neither the attack nor the defense showed any sign of weakening. Both Suzaku and Omitsu scowled as they concentrated on overpowering the spell of the other. Finally, Suzaku gave the shield one good push, sending the electrical attack into the only remaining piece of the wall. It crumbled immediately, and most of the stones that it was comprised of fell over the edge. There was now nothing keeping the ninjas from falling off the edge and experiencing a long fall and a quick splatter.

Suzaku went down to her knees and began breathing heavily. "I'm okay," she said as Yae knelt down to help her. Suzaku shakily stood up. "Just follow my instructions, and Omitsu should be free in no time. Do whatever you can to get Omitsu to fight against Makurayami."

Omitsu watched the ninjas plot what was surely their plan of attack. She grinned at their futility before creating several momentary bursts of smoke behind her. A dagger emerged from each one and flew at the ninjas, who moved out of the way and looked to see the knives go through the floor.

"Come on, Omitsu! You've gotta fight against that freak!" Ebisumaru shouted, his arms waving wildly as he tried to get her attention. "I know you can do it! Go, Omitsu, go!" Omitsu cringed at Ebisumaru's showiness.

"Please, Miss Omitsu, you must resist with all your might!" said Sasuke, who was standing right next to Ebisumaru. "I know it will be difficult, but you can help us free you if you would just--Oof!" Both Sasuke and Ebisumaru were hit by a giant black hand that swept them away. They were sprawled on the floor a short distance away for a moment before getting up and continuing their cheers.

"Don't give up, guys. I think it's working!" Suzaku said excitedly. Omitsu's altitude was lowered slightly, and her hand clutched her chest as she glared angrily at the two ninjas that had dared to encourage internal rebellion.

"You know, I really can't say I like you like this, Omitsu," Yae said. Omitsu sent a large ball of black energy flying in her direction. Yae jumped nimbly out of the way and landed next to Goemon. "We all miss the old you, and I'm sure you all miss us just as much. So put all of your energy into getting rid of that jerk so we can spend time with the real you again!"

"Omitsu...I want nothing more right now than to just be able to hold you in my arms again," Goemon said in the most affectionate tone he could muster at the moment. "Omitsu...I love you, Omitsu." Goemon's usual bashfulness regarding public expressions of his feelings for his girlfriend were overpowered by his determination to free her from this, the most dire situation she had ever been involved in.

By this time, Omitsu had descended almost to the floor. She was hunched over and breathing heavily. "So, this is the power of what humans call love," she said.

A large hand materialized above each of her opponents, excluding Goemon, and fell on top of them, pinning them to the floor. Goemon began to panic as he saw his friends try to crawl out from underneath them and ran to Yae, the ally closest to him in proximity. Just as he reached her, he looked towards Omitsu to see the same black ropes from Ugo flying towards him. Quicker than Goemon's eyes could follow them, the ropes wrapped themselves around his body again, restricting his movement and his breathing. The restraints dragged him to the side, still standing completely upright.

"In that case, Omitsu will be devastated when she becomes the one who kills you. So much so, in fact, that I imagine she'd stop trying to fight against me. But if she does escape my grasp, she'll likely die from grief soon afterwards, anyway. I won't be truly satisfied until all of you experience unbearable suffering!" said the demon-possessed waitress. Goemon expected another electric shock, but instead saw Omitsu raise both hands above her head. A black ball was situated in her cupped hands and growing at an alarming rate. "No mortal has ever survived this spell. Prepare to die, Goemon!"

Suzaku recognized this threat and eventually managed to drag one arm out from underneath the hand. She pointed her palm behind her. A beam of light shot out of it, forcing the hand to tilt back. It landed back down onto the ground, but found no prisoner after Suzaku slid forward and out of its reach.

She ran between Goemon and Omitsu just as the demon's attack was released. Goemon watched in shock as the ball of energy collided with Suzaku and broke apart. The pieces of the shattered spell remained motionless for a brief moment before being absorbed into her body. Everything Goemon saw seemed to move in slow motion as Suzaku shuddered before falling to her knees and eventually on her face.

"Humph. As a traitor, she deserved a fate much worse than this. But I suppose this will have to suffice for now," Omitsu mumbled. "What the--?!" Omitsu's arms were brought down to her sides as a red band wrapped around her. She dropped the rest of the way to the floor and noticed Goemon, now free from the ropes, kneeling in front of Suzaku. A radiant light pulsed from his right hand for a few more seconds before diminishing in intensity and eventually disappearing entirely. Unable to maintain a sufficient level of magical energy due to the light from the Ruby of Courage, the dark hands summoned by Makurayami disappeared. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae were free, and ran over to Goemon and Suzaku.

"You might have figured this out already, but the Jewels of Light can be activated by physical or emotional stress," Suzaku whispered. She struggled to keep her eyes open, and her breathing had become short and hoarse. Goemon tried to get her to save her strength and avoid speaking, but Suzaku stubbornly disobeyed. "No, Goemon, you need to hear this. I told you at the beginning of this journey that there would be no room for mistakes from anybody, and I have to do my part to assure this mission's success now."

By this point, the other three ninjas had gathered around Suzaku, while Omitsu struggled against the ring that held her in place. "Listen, all of you," she continued. "If the Jewels of Light gain energy from just your emotional turmoil, they'll take control of you and turn you into a ruthless monster. Obviously, we don't want that, so control your feelings. Don't feel nervous; you can see that you're close to freeing Omitsu. She's putting up a strong fight against Makurayami, so now's your chance to finish this.

"You have to concentrate on fusing the jewel's power with your own. Focus all of your strength into them, and they will obey your will. You must control the Jewels of Light; don't let them control you. I know if anybody can defeat that bastard, you can. I believe in you." And with that, Suzaku finally let her eyes shut.

Goemon was furious. His hands were balled into fist, his teeth were grinding together, and the others would have sworn they saw smoke come out of his ears. "Calm down, Goemon! Remember what Suzaku just said," Yae hissed. She looked down at their unconscious friend. "Makurayami said that no mortal has ever survived that spell. But she--she's not mortal, right? So, I think she'll be all right..."

Yae wasn't willing to admit it, but deep down she was just as scared as Goemon was angry. Not only was there a possibility that she could be wrong about Suzaku, but now they were utilizing supernatural weapons that they barely knew how to use to fight against a powerful foe they knew little about, and all without somebody to guide them.

With a loud grunt, Omitsu finally managed to free herself. The ring that bound her split and fell, disappearing just before reaching the ground. "Don't listen to the delusional ravings of that idealistic fool," she said. "You've already lost. You can't possibly defeat me, and when Dochuki is free, I will be unstoppable!"

"Shut up!" Goemon shouted. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae tried to calm him down, but he just pushed them away and walked towards his opponent. "I've heard this stupid speech too many times to let it get to me. This ends now, Makurayami!"

"_Focus...concentrate...breathe, and focus on the jewel,_" Goemon thought to himself, his head bowed and his eyes tightly shut. "_Remember Suzaku's instructions. 'Focus all of your strength into them, and they will obey your will.' Focus. Oh, who am I kidding, this isn't going to work!_"

"You see? You lack the discipline to destroy me," Omitsu said with a chuckle. "You were right about one thing, though. This will end very soon. But perhaps not the way you wanted it to."

Omitsu made an elaborate motion with her hands, which left a black mist wherever they went. The smoke gathered and enshrouded her hands. She grinned, baring her razor-sharp fangs, and shot her hands forward, releasing a beam of black magic that zoomed towards Goemon and the other ninjas.

Goemon closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable, angry with himself because he knew deep down that he had given only a halfhearted attempt to awaken the Ruby of Courage's true powers. But instead of feeling intense pain, he heard a furious crackle. He opened his eyes to see two beams, one yellow and one green, pushing Omitsu's attack back little by little. Tracing the beams back to their sources, he saw Ebisumaru and Sasuke, the emerald previously embedded in his chest now free and resting on his hand. Both had their eyes closed peacefully and their heads bowed slightly.

A shocked Omitsu and an equally surprised Goemon stared at Ebisumaru and Sasuke. "What are you waiting for, Goemon?" Yae asked her dumbfounded companion. "We have to help them."

Omitsu's face had tightened after her magic encountered this opposing force. Her attack now had the upper hand and was inching closer to her opponents. Yae stood next to Sasuke and assumed a pose similar to that of the clockwork ninja and the Ninja of Justice. She whispered something to herself, and the blue jewel in the center of her circlet soon began to glow. Before long, a blue light shot forward and joined the other two.

Once again, the ninjas were overpowering the demon and pushing the black magic back, but at a faster rate this time. Omitsu's eyes widened as she saw her beam split in two and shoot off to the sides of the ninjas, creating a path for the attacks of her opponents to reach her. She staggered back as soon as she was hit, but nothing more seemed to happen. She tried pushing against it, but ended up moving neither forward nor backward.

"_They really do work..._" Goemon thought. "_Then maybe mine will--_"

As if taking a cue directly from Goemon's pondering mind, the ring on his finger regained its glow. "_All right, it's now or never. Focus. Concentrate. Breathe, and take control of this power. For Omitsu. For Omitsu..._"

At that moment, Goemon felt an incredible strength flow through him. His will to fight had never been stronger, and he felt his courage and determination increase tenfold. He felt like he had the power to carry the entire world on his shoulders. But first, he had to rescue the most important treasure in his life from the clutches of a monster.

A red beam to match Goemon's respective jewel shot out and hit Omitsu. The waitress was thrown back quite a ways and lay unconscious on the floor, but where she had stood moments earlier was the giant bat-like demon known as Makurayami, screaming furiously and holding his head in pain. The light from each jewel had died down after the demon was released from within his host.

"Omitsu!" Goemon ran towards her, but found himself lifted off the ground and staring into the eyes of Makurayami.

"So, you managed to free your little girlfriend. Well, that's of little consequence. I had no further need for her anyway," the demon said, the fire in his eyes piercing Goemon's soul. "All six of you shall die here tonight!"


	30. Light and Darkness

Makurayami held Goemon up at an angle before opening his hand. Goemon flew straight backwards, propelled by black pellets that Makurayami shot out of his palm, until gravity took over and brought him back down to the ground. He rolled backwards and over the edge, just barely managing to grab on and keep himself from falling to his death.

The bat swung his right arm at Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae, all of whom ducked under the attack. "Ebisumaru, go help Goemon! We'll take care of this freak!" Yae ordered. Ebisumaru ran towards his friend, but ended up sliding on his stomach most of the way there after Makurayami hit him with his wing.

"Oof! Ow, that's going to leave a mark," Ebisumaru groaned. "Oh, hey, Goemon."

"Don't just stand there, Ebisumaru! Help me up!" Goemon shouted. His feet were dangling, and he could feel his fingers slipping.

"Oh, right. All right, here we go." Ebisumaru bent down and gripped Goemon's hand in both of his own. "Heave!"

Makurayami wasn't about to let Ebisumaru succeed at bringing Goemon back into the fight, and instead decided to take this opportunity to kill both of them at the same time. Both of his wings curved in front of him. A black ball formed where they met, but he felt a sharp pain shortly before he released it. He turned around to see Yae, her blood-soaked katana pointing threateningly at him. He shot the orb at Yae instead, hitting her square in the chest and sending her flying back.

Meanwhile, a completely oblivious Ebisumaru had finally managed to bring Goemon back to solid ground. "Whew. You've gotten a lot heavier, Goemon. What have you been eating?"

"Who are you to ask about MY eating habits?!" a panting Goemon replied. "Come on, we've gotta help Sasuke and Yae!"

Sasuke was hurling several Kunai of Severe Cold at the giant demon, but Makurayami was deflecting each one off to the side. Goemon and Ebisumaru were forced to duck under one, and the next one thrown by Sasuke hit its target and became embedded in Makurayami's wing. The demon growled before hurling a bolt of lightning at Sasuke. The electric current ran up and down the clockwork ninja's body as he fell backwards and writhed on the floor. Makurayami shook his now frozen wing, thawing it completely in the process, before ripping the kunai out and throwing it at Goemon and Ebisumaru. Ebisumaru jumped back, and Goemon smacked the kunai away with his pipe after it bounced off the ground and flew towards his face. "Let's go, Ebisumaru!" Goemon said as he charged at the demon.

Goemon leapt at Makurayami, but was swatted back. He managed to recover in midair from this blow and landed in a kneeling position. "Here, let me give you a boost, Goemon," Ebisumaru said. Goemon nodded at his longtime friend, and put one foot in his cupped hands. Goemon was propelled upwards, and just managed to avoid Makurayami's grasp. He released his trademark battle cry as he began his descent from the peak of his flight, swinging the pipe into the demon's face as hard as he could on the way down.

Ebisumaru followed this up by taking a handful of shurikens and throwing them with deadly speed at his giant opponent. Like the kunai, they were all sent back to Ebisumaru, who had to dance like he was walking on hot coals to avoid them.

Goemon looked around after landing and saw Sasuke slowly get up. He went into a slight spasm before closing and opening his eyes repeatedly. Yae had just managed to get back on her feet and had her katana unsheathed and held tightly with both hands in front of her. She made eye contact with Goemon, and gave him the slightest nod as a signal that she was all right and ready to attack.

Goemon turned back to face his opponent and saw a radial wave heading in his direction. In a panic, he tried to duck under it, but did so too late and flew backwards from the impact. Sasuke's slightly slower reflexes and Ebisumaru's bulky mass were responsible for similar results. Only the women were unharmed; the flexible and resilient Yae bent backwards and ended up flat on the floor, while the wave traveled above Suzaku's and Omitsu's motionless forms.

"Come on, guys! We've all gotta rush him at the same time!" Yae called out.

Goemon wiped his bleeding lip as he stood up. "Right, on my signal." He jumped out of the way of a ball of energy, which left a smoldering crater where he had been standing seconds earlier. "NOW!"

Surprisingly, Ebisumaru was the first to reach the demon. Makurayami pointed a radiating palm at him. Ebisumaru was about to swing his mallet at him, but reeled back after getting enough black goo on him to cover his whole face. His muffled cries and grunts could just barely be heard as he wandered around and pulled at the thick slime.

While one hand was pointed at Ebisumaru, the other was pointed at Yae, who received a similar fate. The kunoichi screamed and went to her knees as she struggled to overcome the suction keeping the sticky substance on her face.

Goemon and Sasuke charged at the demon from the front and ran on either side of him. They each hit him with their respective weapons as they passed. The demon released a small grunt at the attack and tried to snatch them up, but both ninjas dove to stay just out of his reach.

Goemon and Sasuke rolled forward in perfect synch with each other. This was when Goemon noticed the Emerald of Spirit, swinging and tapping against Sasuke's chest from the force of this sudden movement. "That's it!" Goemon whispered to himself.

It was at this moment that Yae finally managed to remove the slime from her face, which wasn't so much a viscous liquid as it was a complete and unbreakable solid. Yae looked at it and saw a pair of red eyes above a fanged mouth with a thick tongue whipping around it. A clear liquid was practically pouring out of its mouth as it stared hungrily at Yae. "Eeek!" she yelped, and without even taking the time to think, she threw the ugly thing over the edge before it had the chance to wrap itself too tightly around her hands or lunge at her face again. She began spitting rapidly to get as much of whatever the slime monster was drooling out of her mouth as she could. "Ugh, disgusting!"

Shortly thereafter, Ebisumaru managed to release his own overly possessive creature from his face. With a scream almost as feminine as Yae's, he threw it over his shoulders and hoped that it rolled off the edge. "That definitely does not make the Ninja of Justice's list of delicious food-like items," he said disapprovingly.

"You didn't actually eat any of that, did you, Ebisumaru?" Yae asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ebisumaru's eyes darted rapidly from side to side. "Umm...no, of course not, Yae."

"Guys, the jewels! We have to use the Jewels of Light again!" Goemon shouted.

"I think not," said a booming voice. Makurayami lowered his hands and swept them forward to grab Ebisumaru with one and Yae with the other. He raised them level to his eyes and stared down at Goemon and Sasuke. "If you value the lives of your friends, you will remove the Jewels of Light immediately."

"Don't listen to him, Goemon! Use the Jewels of Light and destroy this guy! Don't worry about us!" Yae screamed

"What are you talking about, Yae?!" Ebisumaru responded. "Yae's crazy, she's the one you shouldn't be listening to, Goemon! Save us!"

"Don't call me crazy, fatso!"

"Well, don't call me fatso, crazy!"

This continued in a similar fashion for some time, during which Goemon and Sasuke turned their heads from one to the other as this tennis match of words proceeded toward no foreseeable end. Just as Goemon and Sasuke began to grow bored of this, Makurayami shouted "Enough!" This silenced both Ebisumaru and Yae for a moment before they resumed yelling at each other and their two companions below.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light from each of the demon's hands. The two ninjas he had held in his grasp seconds earlier were now falling toward the floor. Yae came to a graceful landing, while Ebisumaru tripped forward and hit his chin against the ground. "Ouch," he moaned. "Seems like we spend a lot of time falling, doesn't it?"

"Now's not the time for that! Use them now!"

Yae and Sasuke didn't have to wait for Goemon's signal and were already working on focusing their minds into utilizing the power of their jewels. Seconds later, a beam came from Sasuke, then Yae, followed soon after by Goemon and Ebisumaru. Each one hit the demon, who released an agonized scream as he shrunk down to the size of the ninjas.

When the lights dissolved, the ninjas saw that Makurayami was hunched over, breathing heavily and clutching at his chest. "The sealing container, Goemon!" Yae shouted.

"Heh, I love this part," Goemon said as he reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the white container that already held the spirits of four demons. Makurayami raised his fist in the air and looked like he was about to say something when Goemon spoke again. "I especially love the fact that we won't have to listen to you babble on about how we're doomed or something stupid like that. Instead, I'm going to correct something you told us earlier. Darkness is always conquered by the light. Not sometimes, Makurayami. Always." And with that, Goemon removed the top half of the container and pointed it at the demon, the once powerful lord of darkness.

Makurayami screamed a forceful "Nooooo!", but this didn't stop him from shrinking even further, turning into a skull-shaped puff of smoke, and being sucked into the receptacle where he would keep his four youngest children company. Goemon calmly put the sealing container back in his pocket, took a deep breath, and suddenly remembered that his unconscious girlfriend was behind him.

"Omitsu!" Goemon knelt down and gently propped her up. Her skin had regained its normal tone, and it appeared that every other demon-like feature had vanished. Her eyes remained closed, no matter how much Goemon begged her to wake up.

"So, is it over?" Ebisumaru asked feebly of Yae and Sasuke, both of whom were examining Suzaku.

There was a slight rumbling, which quickly began to grow more intense. Everybody's attention was diverted to the crystal that held the spirit of Dochuki, which was flashing multiple colors one right after the other.

"I think you know the answer to that question, Ebisumaru," said Yae as she nervously stood up and stepped back.

A large crack formed down the middle of the crystal, dividing it completely in half.


	31. Revenge Long Overdue

"You've got to be kidding me."

Just as Makurayami had promised, it had only been a matter of minutes since the ninjas arrived before Dochuki would once again be free. That time had finally come, signaled by the web of fractures that was forming on his crystalline prison.

"I--I don't know if I can handle another fight right now," Ebisumaru moaned.

"Neither can I." Sasuke convulsed after he said this as an electric current ran through his body. "I need to see the Wise Man before I can fight to my full potential again."

"Don't tell me...that after all of this we end up failing anyway," Yae said in a half-whine.

Goemon was the only one who said nothing. He only stared at Dochuki before bringing his gaze back to Omitsu, and then to Dochuki once again. Right now, he felt that, as long as Omitsu was safe, he had succeeded. He had come too close to losing her on far too many occasions; as long as he was breathing, he wouldn't let the demon lay a finger on her.

One crack in the crystal slowed down and came to a stop at the lower right edge. The ninjas all held their breath as they waited in nervous anticipation for the return of one of their most threatening foes. There was a split second of silence before the giant crystal shattered, sending shards flying in every direction. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae held their arms up to protect their faces, while Goemon held Omitsu close and shielded her from the debris with his own body.

"Ah! The jewel! It's gone!" Ebisumaru shouted.

Sure enough, there was a conspicuous hole where the Topaz of Power had been earlier. Similarly, Sasuke's necklace now held no emerald. One end of the chain slid around the back of his neck as gravity dragged the other end to the ground. Goemon sat Omitsu up so he could get a good look at his own ring. With the absence of a jewel, it now looked no different from Ebisumaru's. Pieces of a hard red material were strewn all around him.

"Well, I must say, I never expected to see all of you again so soon."

Dochuki's spirit was now floating among the ninjas, making sure to keep a fair distance away from Ebisumaru while observing this environment that he had found himself in. "I see that Suzaku still hasn't learned her lesson," he said as he passed back over her.

Yae turned her head to speak to her companions with as much confidence as she could muster. "Don't worry, guys. If we could beat Daichi, Haruki, Kaito, Akane, and Makurayami, we can certainly beat this guy. Again."

"I see..." Dochuki mumbled. "So it was my father that released me from my imprisonment. And it seems that you were able to defeat him in battle, in the hopes that you could prevent my revival. Impressive, indeed, but once again you pay for your sluggishness.

"I suppose he expected that I would allow him to hold power over everything, including me. That old fool is far too trusting. He certainly would have met an untimely end if he had tried something so stupid."

"Wow, your family is really screwed up, isn't it?" Ebisumaru said.

"Nobody can be more powerful than me! I, the great Dochuki, am second to none!"

Meanwhile, Goemon was silently absorbing the drama of everything that was happening around him. He took a deep breath and shook his head before kissing Omitsu on the forehead and brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She stirred ever so slightly, but was motionless once again soon afterwards. After sweeping away the broken glass, he laid her back down and stood up to face Dochuki. "Obviously, that's not true. Remember that you lost to all of us." Goemon took the sealing container out of his pocket once again. "What I think you really need is to spend some quality time with your family. Either you can go quietly, or we can beat the crap out of you again and then put you in here. The choice is yours."

Dochuki's creepy grin formed on his drifting face. "Do you really believe that you are in a position to be negotiating with me?" he said, stifling chuckles the entire time. "Here's what I think should happen: I'll exact my revenge against all of you, and display your rotting carcasses as a testament to my power."

Just as Goemon put his hand on the top of the sealing container, Dochuki zoomed outside the edge of the arena and dipped down below the ninjas' line of sight. "Get ready, he'll probably be back soon. I know we're all physically and mentally exhausted from everything that's happened, but we can still do this! We've come too far to lose now," Goemon said as he brandished the pipe that had become such an important symbol in his life. Thoughts of his great ancestors surfaced in his mind as he looked at the family heirloom in his hand, and he hoped they would lend him their strength now, when he needed it so desperately. "I believe in all of you, and I know if anybody can do this, the four of us can. It's a heavy burden, being responsible for the fate of the world. And now that we're fighting on behalf of two worlds, it's especially important that we succeed. So don't give up, no matter what!"

Yae took a deep breath, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop a small smile from forming after hearing Goemon's brief, yet inspirational, speech. "Okay. We can do this. Be prepared for anything," she said as she put one hand on the hilt of her sword.

Seconds later, the ninjas heard a deafening screech and saw a gigantic blue blur fly upward from beyond the outer edge of the arena. It descended to the top of the tower, its giant wings flapping and sending cool bursts of air down to the ninjas, who craned their necks to get a good look at the massive blue dragon, the form Dochuki had chosen for this battle, that was now situated in front of them. Both his feet and his hands had four sharpened claws that could tear a person apart with one slice. The white horns on his head looked equally threatening and curved forward after jutting up from his scalp. Smoke came out of the nostrils at the end of his long snout as he stared intently at his prey. Dochuki spread out his leathery wings and tilted his head back as he roared so loudly, each of the ninjas nearly lost their balance from the sheer volume and intensity of the cry.

"We've done this so many times before, we can do it again," Goemon shouted. "ATTACK!"

All four ninjas ran towards their opponent, who patiently awaited their arrival. As soon as they were close enough, Dochuki flapped his wings repeatedly, sending the lightweight Sasuke flying back and causing the others to meet with considerable resistance in their advances. Increasing the speed of his wings even more, Dochuki opened his mouth, where energy was gathering in a fashion similar to Impact's laser. As expected, a laser did shoot out of Dochuki's mouth and headed straight for the spot where Goemon, Ebisumaru and Yae were struggling to keep from being pushed back. Yae tried to jump out of the way, but underestimated the strength of Dochuki's wings and was carried backwards, where she landed face down next to Sasuke and Omitsu. Goemon and Ebisumaru were hit with the beam and sent off to the sides, where they lay injured and barely able to move.

Dochuki grabbed one of the two ninjas nearest to him in each of his clawed feet and soared high above the top of the tower. He opened his mouth and moved his head closer to his right foot, where Ebisumaru was squirming with all his might, which wasn't much at that point. The dragon was about to clamp his jaws around the Ninja of Justice's immense girth when two kunai and a metal ball hit him in the side of the head. Dochuki looked down to see Sasuke and Yae wielding their respective long-range weapons and aiming for another shot. He snarled as he pulled the foot containing Ebisumaru back and hurled him to the ground at his attackers.

Sasuke, who was about to throw another kunai at Dochuki, quickly put his weapons away and looked up to see the Ninja of Justice heading straight for him. Ebisumaru collided with Sasuke, who fell backwards under the overwhelming weight. Sasuke gasped and tried to push Ebisumaru off. "Ebisumaru! Please...get up...off of me." Ebisumaru made no verbal response or noticeable movement.

Yae helped free Sasuke and knelt to check Ebisumaru's pulse. "He's still alive. I think he should regain consciousness soon. How are you holding up, Sasuke?" No response from the clockwork ninja. "Sasuke?"

Two black pillars of smoke were rising from Sasuke's back. A large spark shot out of the socket connecting his left arm to his torso, and then another from the right arm. He shook violently with each new spark that flew out from the inside of his body. After a few seconds of this, a rigid Sasuke tipped forward and hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Goemon was cringing as he felt Dochuki's talons dig deep into his skin. The dragon dropped like a rock, taking the trapped ninja with him. Goemon was embedded into the hole that the impact of Dochuki's landing had caused, and he felt his captor push him down even further.

Yae charged at the dragon with her katana unsheathed. She stabbed the leg that held Goemon, which rose off the ground and kicked her. Yae's katana flew out of her hand as she was sent flying up and back. Goemon scurried out of the newly formed hole before Dochuki's foot could cover it up again. He rushed to Yae's side and hoped that she would be alright.

"Come on, we can't quit now. Tough as nails, remember?" Goemon said sternly.

Yae let out a short chuckle. Fresh blood was dripping out of three large gashes on the underside of her chin. "Apparently not. I hate to say it, but I think we've been beat. I'm really sorry, Goemon." Yae closed her eyes and let the back of her head hit the tiled floor.

Goemon slowly stood up and felt the anger rise through his body. Yae had begged him to control his rage, but he couldn't see how that would even be possible. Dochuki had now defeated all of the ninjas except for Goemon, leaving him to face this threat alone. How could he stay calm at a time like this?! How could he possibly--

"Ouch!" Goemon found himself flying forward uncontrollably, propelled by the horns on the top of Dochuki's head. He was sprawled face down on the floor where he landed and didn't move a muscle.

Dochuki made sure that nobody else was left. He saw six unconscious bodies scattered about the battlefield. After his mouth formed into a smile and a puff of smoke came out of his nostrils, he raised his head up and roared again. He was about to have that which he so desperately wanted: his revenge. And nothing was going to stop him.

The blue dragon looked back down at his victims. He would destroy all six of them with one final attack. He opened his mouth to begin charging the beam of energy that would incinerate them all. The red ball in his mouth grew and grew, until even Dochuki could see nothing beyond it. He was just about to release the blast when something hit the side of his head. It was small, but it had been enough to break his concentration. His head turned from this unexpected interference, and the laser shot off to the side and down towards the foot of the tower.

Again, something hit Dochuki on the side of his snout. His eyes traced the projectile back to its source. "Hey, why don't you pick on somebody your own size, you big bully?!" said this new attacker.

Goemon's eyes shot wide open. That voice...after longing for it for what seemed like an eternity, he was finally able to hear it again. Somehow, somewhere, he found the strength to pick himself up off the ground and stand shakily on his feet.

Omitsu picked up another stone and aimed it at the dragon sitting at the edge of the arena. The three battles that had taken place over the last few minutes had provided her with plenty of ammunition. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave them alone!" she shouted as she pitched the stone towards Dochuki's head. She turned her head at the sound of heavy breathing and saw a wide-eyed Goemon staring at her and tightly gripping his arm. He cringed as he rotated the shoulder of said arm. Omitsu fell to her knees when they locked eyes. "Goemon...I can't tell you how happy I am to see you right now. I missed you so much. I...love you, Goemon." At that moment, Omitsu felt all her strength leave her as she collapsed again.

Goemon was relieved beyond description that Omitsu was all right. His breathing accelerated and his heart pounded harder against his chest after she reassured him of the fact that he was already so sure of. He felt something rise inside him as he took a deep breath and stood up completely straight again. His silent prayers of thanks regarding Omitsu were interrupted by a rumbling voice. "You can make things so much easier for yourself if you would just quit now. If you keep fighting, you will only bring harm to yourself and your friends. Why don't you just give up?"

As much as Goemon wanted to be with Omitsu, to protect her, he knew it would most likely result in her and the others experiencing more pain, just as Dochuki had said. That wasn't something he was willing to risk. He knew he had to finish this. This would be the last chance.

His balled fists hung at his sides, his teeth clenched together, his chest heaved as he mentally prepared himself for this final battle. Even his disheveled hair seemed to stand on end. He decided to utter one last sentence before bringing this to an end: "Fight on...fight on...never...giving...up!"

A great power circulated through Goemon's veins and spread to to every corner of his body. He focused on awakening this long dormant ability, this enhancement in strength, agility, and concentration to the point of being superhuman. His hair changed from its normal blue color to a shining gold, marking him as one of the few who had mastered the ability known as Sudden Impact. Goemon thought he had lost this ability from disuse, until Omitsu had helped him rediscover it moments earlier.

With intense fury and determination in his eyes, Goemon ran towards Dochuki. The dragon tried to swipe at the approaching ninja, but each attack met only air. Goemon bent at the knees and pushed himself off the ground and towards Dochuki's face. After Goemon collided with his target, both he and Dochuki were sent tumbling over the edge.


	32. Parting Ways

Dochuki snapped repeatedly at Goemon, who was too quick for him and avoided every single attack, often countering with a swing of his pipe. After giving Dochuki a particularly strong swipe against the side of his face, Goemon held on to the neck of his foe as they plummeted towards the ground far below. He stared deep into the eyes of his opponent. "It's time for me to return the favor for all the pain you and your family have caused us," Goemon said. "This is for Suzaku!" Goemon brought his pipe to Dochuki's face in a downward swing. _Bam_! "And Yae!" _Whack_! The pipe traveled across the dragon's face. "And Sasuke! And Ebisumaru!" Each of these names was accompanied by another assault from Goemon and his trusty weapon. "And especially Omitsu!" Goemon swung his pipe twice across Dochuki's face and then slammed it three times right between his eyes. Goemon didn't even give the falling dragon time to react. He had gained the upper hand, and he wasn't about to surrender it.

The ground was fast approaching. Goemon followed up his pipe attacks with a swift kick to the chest, which gave the dragon even more speed in his descent. Dochuki landed on his back with a loud crash and in a thick cloud of dust. Goemon soon followed, landing on his chest and jabbing him in the nose with the head of his pipe. There was a cracking sound as the dragon's snout was pushed in.

"Move! We'll finish him off!" shouted a voice behind Goemon.

Goemon looked towards the new voice to see a man with a beard who was dressed in what appeared to be military garb. About ten men stood at his side and held up a massive barrel, perhaps a weapon of some kind. Goemon thought it looked a bit like Yae's bazooka, but a great deal bigger and fitted with enough handles on the sides for each of the men who carried it. "Move!" the man repeated.

Goemon jumped off of Dochuki and rolled as he landed, ending up next to the military man, who seemed to be the leader of the group. "Ready the cannon," he said as he raised his arm high above his head. There was a whirring sound as the innards of the cannon prepared the attack. The opening of the weapon began to glow within a matter of seconds. More time passed as the sounds made by the cannon grew louder, and Dochuki moved closer to recovering from Goemon's sudden attacks. "Fire!" shouted the commander as his arm dropped to his side.

There was a sound like a strong wind and crackling electricity as the ball of light at the open end of the cannon became a light blue beam that reminded Goemon of Impact's laser. It rushed towards Dochuki, hitting him square in the face and continuing its flow there for several seconds. Dochuki, now lying on his side, tilted his head back and screeched after the attack had finally subsided. His head fell limply to the floor and rested against the foot of the tower. Moments later, his light blue body turned black and began breaking apart and melting into the floor. All that remained was the ghostly face that had been imprisoned earlier.

"I'll take it from here," Goemon said as he pulled the sealing container out of his inside pocket. He twisted the top half off and pointed it at Dochuki, who tried to escape the whole time he was being sucked in. But escape was impossible; soon, he was trapped inside the container with the rest of his family.

Goemon turned to the people who had destroyed Dochuki's new body. "Thank you for your help. But, just who are you guys, anyway?"

The military man smiled. "We thought this might happen, so we started developing this baby three years ago after you defeated Dochuki the first time. When Suzaku told us that you and your friends would be fighting against Makurayami, we rushed to finish it and brought it out here as fast as we could when he returned to the Underworld in his new host. This was the first time we've used it; I'm glad to see that it works. Where is Suzaku, by the way? And what's become of Makurayami and his host?"

"Oh! That's right," Goemon said, suddenly remembering that his unconscious friends were waiting at the top of the structure he had just fallen from. "We need to climb to the top of the tower here. I'll explain on the way."

---

"Drink this, you'll feel a lot better."

One of the soldiers that had carried the cannon held a tray with cylindrical cups on it. He gave one to each of the ninjas and Omitsu before taking the last one to the other end of the table, where Suzaku and the general were talking about something that was apparently very important.

Goemon took a sniff of the fumes that were rising from his cup and reeled back in disgust to the point of nearly tipping backwards in his chair. It was extremely pungent and released an odor that reminded Goemon of a wet dog. "_Well, it can't make me feel any worse._" Goemon pinched his nose and took a big gulp of the hot liquid. It tasted about as good as it smelled, but there was no denying the fact that the soldier was right about it making him feel better. He had emerged from the chain of battles with a massive migraine, but he could already feel it dissipating.

Goemon turned to see how his friends were doing. It seemed that Ebisumaru was so happy to see any kind of food again, he had downed the contents of the mug in one gulp. He immediately regretted it, however, when he realized how much it burned on the way down and felt the severity of the resulting stomachache. A skeptical Yae was just taking her first sip, and winced as she struggled to swallow the little bit she did drink. Goemon thought he saw the cuts from when Dochuki had kicked her shrink slightly. As for Sasuke, he was also tasting the strange liquid for the first time. He brought the cup to his mouth and tilted it up. He shook a few seconds later, but Goemon couldn't tell whether this was from the drink or from the electrical attack Makurayami had used against him.

Goemon brought his attention to Omitsu, who was sitting right next to him. She was hunched over, shivering and covered in a blanket that Suzaku had let her borrow. Goemon wrapped his arm around her shoulders and noticed that she hadn't even touched the cup in front of her. "Why don't you drink some of that?" he asked. Omitsu just shook her head weakly. "Are you sure? You'll feel better if you drink a little bit."

"Don't be so sure, Goemon," Suzaku interrupted as she walked behind him and stopped at the edge of the table, on Goemon's left. "It's called Demon's Bane for a reason, and its not because they like to serve it at parties. There shouldn't be any traces of Makurayami left in her, but she might still get sick if she drinks any. I actually don't know why she got any in the first place, but it might be better not to risk it. Hopefully she'll recover if you just let her rest for a while when you go back to your world.

"Anyway, Goemon, you're probably wondering why I asked for your help when we had something as powerful as the cannon you just saw, aren't you?"

"Huh? How did you--"

"General Yamada told me everything." The ninjas stared at her blankly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were already acquainted."

"General Masaru Yamada. It's a pleasure to meet all of you," said the leader of the soldiers from before as he took his place next to Suzaku.

Suzaku continued addressing the group after the general had finished his brief introduction. "The cannon still wasn't ready when I first told you about Makurayami. And even if it was, we could only use it against his children. Defeating Makurayami would still require four exemplary souls and the Jewels of Light, especially since we wanted a minimal amount of harm to come to the host. You saw what happened to Dochuki's body."

Goemon pulled Omitsu closer to him. "Like I said earlier, we began developing it three years ago," General Yamada said. "We never intended to use it against Makurayami. However, we also knew we wouldn't be able to fight Dochuki with it while his father was still active. It was a weapon we hoped we would never have to use. We only brought it out because we knew the time for Dochuki's revival could be coming soon, and we decided we would use it in case you failed in preventing that."

"Well, thank you once again. It was certainly very helpful," Goemon said. He had experienced the adventure he longed for for so long; now he was just anxious to go home.

"By the way, what should we do with the demons?"

"I've got an idea," Suzaku said with a grin. "It's on the way to the portal that will lead you back home. We'll go as soon as you're all ready."

---

"This, my friends, is a bottomless pit."

Suzaku had led the ninjas to a large, gaping hole after they had said their goodbyes to General Yamada. A rope barrier was placed on the outside of the circle in hopes of keeping people from falling in.

"How could it be bottomless? I mean, it has to end somewhere, right?" Yae asked.

"This is the Underworld, Yae. The rules of your world don't always apply here," Suzaku replied. "Now, Goemon, may I have the sealing container, please?" Goemon handed it over. "Does anybody want to wish them a happy journey before we never see them again?"

"Are you kidding?" Goemon said excitedly. "Good riddance, I say."

Suzaku smiled and nodded before dangling the sealing container over the opening in the floor. "I have to agree with Goemon. Good riddance." Suzaku released her grip on the container and watched it fall before it disappeared into the pitch black darkness seconds later.

---

About a five minute walk from the bottomless pit was a winding path leading up a hill. Most of the ninjas and Omitsu stood at the top of this hill. Ebisumaru sat on the ground next to the others, panting heavily and fanning himself with his hand. "Oh, come on. It wasn't that far," Suzaku had said.

As for Suzaku, she was kneeling in front of two metallic stumps situated in the soft earth about six feet apart from each other. She pushed a few of the buttons on one of them before moving to the other and doing the same. There was a whirring sound as Suzaku stood up and backed away. A bright light shone from each of the hubs and moved towards the center.

"The portal will be ready shortly. It should take you back to your world, wherever the portal you guys used to get here was," Suzaku said. There was a long silence. "Of course, I'll have to close it once all of you go through, so I just wanted to say, umm...thank you. I wanted to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for...for helping us out again."

"Anytime, Suzaku," Goemon said boastfully. "We'll always be there to help somebody in need. Because that's just what we do. Right, Yae?" Goemon felt the need to at least attempt to lighten the mood, especially since he was literally the only thing keeping Omitsu on her feet.

Yae grinned and chuckled softly. "Yeah, you're right. And I hope we never forget it."

The two lights finally met and extended upwards to form an arch. "All right, looks like it's ready to go," Suzaku said. "I guess this is goodbye, then. Again."

Nobody moved for what seemed like the longest time. Finally, Sasuke stepped up to the gateway, but didn't enter. Instead, he turned towards Suzaku and went into a low bow. "I feel like I should be thanking you, Miss Suzaku. We couldn't have been victorious without your help. Please, don't hesitate to seek our help if you ever need it again."

"I'll be sure to remember that. Goodbye, Sasuke. Take care of yourself. And, really, the 'Miss' isn't necessary."

Sasuke walked into the portal. Ebisumaru was the next one to step forward. "It was long and difficult, but it was worth it in the end. Until next time, Suzuki."

"Damn it, it's Suzaku! Why can't you--"

"Hey, calm down, Suzaku! I was just teasing. But seriously, thanks a bunch. And I promise, if I get your name wrong the next time we meet, it'll be as a joke." Ebisumaru waved at Suzaku, who was shaking her head and trying to hide her grin, before following Sasuke through the dimensional gateway.

Goemon, Yae and Suzaku looked sheepishly at their feet and then to the side, while Omitsu swayed gently and kept the same sickly expression. Yae took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Wow. I didn't realize saying goodbye would be so difficult this time around," she mumbled. "But I guess the longer I drag it out, the harder it's going to be."

Yae walked up to Suzaku and did something nobody could have predicted: she wrapped her arms tightly around the ghost in a sudden embrace. Everybody was surprised by this gesture; even Omitsu stood up a little straighter and widened her eyes slightly. "I'll miss you, Suzaku," Yae said without letting her go. "I still wish humans and ghosts can coexist. But until that time, I'll just have to remember all the wonderful things you've done for us."

Slowly, Suzaku moved her hands up and placed them on Yae's back. "I'll miss you, too, Yae," she said. "And that's all I can really ask for. Until we meet again."

Yae finally released Suzaku and stepped up to the portal. "Goodbye, Suzaku. And thank you. Thank you for your hospitality, for your help with the demons, and for being such a good ally and friend."

"You're welcome, Yae. Take care," Suzaku responded as Yae stepped out of the Underworld.

"Well, I don't think I should keep you and the others waiting. I can't wait to get back home, and I bet Omitsu feels the same way," Goemon said. "By the way, traveling through this portal isn't going to be as...unpleasant as the one that led us here, is it?"

Suzaku chuckled. "No, it shouldn't be. You'll barely notice that you're actually traveling between dimensions, and before you know it you'll be back in Japan.

"Omitsu, I want to give you my sympathy. I can't imagine what you must have been feeling over the past few days. I know this wasn't a pleasant experience for you, but I'm glad you got through it just fine. You're a lot stronger than you look.

"And Goemon, I can't thank you and your friends enough for ridding us of these demons. I know this was also an extremely difficult experience for you, but you really showed what you were made of this time. My best wishes go with you two. You're both very lucky to have each other."

Goemon helped Omitsu stagger over to the portal. "You're right. It definitely wasn't easy this time around. But it almost never is. And let's face it, the most trying adventures are the ones where you grow the most. I bet you're getting tired of hearing this by now, but I wanted to thank you again for all your help, on behalf of both Omitsu and myself."

"My pleasure. Goodbye, Goemon. Goodbye, Omitsu." Suzaku watched as they both stepped through the gateway and faded into nothingness. A few moments passed before Suzaku sighed and knelt in front of one of the metallic hubs of the portal. The machine whirred before the light receded back into the two pieces of metal on the floor.

---

When Goemon and Omitsu felt solid ground under their feet again, they found themselves in Ugo, just as Suzaku had promised. Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae were waiting near the stones that separated them from the portal, which disappeared shortly after Goemon and Omitsu appeared. "Ah, it's great to be back," Goemon said as he carefully helped Omitsu around what used to be the stairs.

"Impact should still be waiting right where we left him. But if he's not, you can just call him," Sasuke said.

"Omitsu, how are you feeling? Are you okay?" Goemon asked. The waitress moved her head in a barely noticeable nod. Goemon loosened his grip around her shoulder so he could get to the conch shell, but was thrown into a panic when her eyes closed and she tipped to the side. "Ah, Omitsu!"

"Whoa! I got her, Goemon."

"Phew. Thanks, Ebisumaru."

"Poor girl. She's been through so much over the years, but this must have been truly hellish for her."

"Perhaps you should do as Suzaku said, and just let her rest for a few days." 

"Yeah, of course. I'll take care of her for a while." 

"Right. You shouldn't let her go to work, but it might be best if she didn't even leave her bed."

"So, what do you suppose we should do now? Are there still any loose ends we should take care of?"

"I think we should tell the Lord and Princess Yuki that the demons have been defeated, and the people are safe for now."

"Right away? Don't you think we should wait until Omitsu's recovered? Seriously, Goemon, don't leave her side until then."

"All right, how does two days after tomorrow sound? We'll meet at Oedo Castle at sunrise. That should be plenty of time."

"Sounds good to me."

"Say, Yae. You're not going to go to work during that time, are you?"

"Are you kidding? I can't go anywhere near that place. I'm not even sure it's safe for me to stay at my own home."

"If that's the case, you're welcome to stay with the Wise Man and me."

"No, I think I'll pass on that. Thanks anyway, Sasuke."

"So, what are you going to do about your job anyway?"

"I...I don't know. I tried not to think about it too much. I just need some time to sit down and figure something out."

"Don't worry, Yae. I'm sure things will work out. And let us know if there's anything we can do to help."


	33. Celebrating Darkness's Defeat

The sun rose and cast its golden light directly on Oedo Castle. Goemon and Ebisumaru admired its magnificence from afar, just to the side of the front gates, where two vigilant guards stood watch.

"Hey, I think I see Sasuke and Yae coming," Ebisumaru said suddenly, pointing down the streets of Edo, which were practically deserted due to the early hour.

Sure enough, Sasuke was walking straight towards Goemon and Ebisumaru, and Yae wasn't far behind. She looked over her shoulder periodically as she walked. When she had moved closer to her three companions, they could see that her eyelids looked heavy. It was clear she wasn't well-rested.

Goemon opened his mouth, but Yae had already predicted what he was going to say. "My home was ransacked while I was gone. It wasn't safe for me to stay there, so I've been moving around a lot. And it was difficult to sleep, as you can probably tell."

"Do you think the Lord can help you with this? I'm sure he'd be happy to," Goemon said.

"I don't want to trouble him. Anyway, let's go inside."

The ninjas walked up to the gates of the castle and were just about to step through when the guards crossed their spears over the entryway. "Halt!" one of them shouted. He took a look at the four people standing in front of him and quickly moved his spear back to his side. "Oh! Goemon. Are you here to speak to the Lord regarding yet another disaster that has befallen Japan?" The slightest hint of sarcasm could be heard in his voice, and his partner snickered to the side. 

"As a matter of fact, I am," Goemon said. No matter how many times he had gone into Oedo Castle, these same guards always seemed skeptical of his intentions.

"Oh...umm, very well, then. Wait in the courtyard, somebody will come down to escort you to the throne room shortly."

---

"And that's what happened."

The Lord of Edo and his daughter, Princess Yuki, stood at the front end of the throne room. Goemon and the others had just finished telling the story of their latest adventure to them. "Well, I'm relieved to know that my people are safe from those foul creatures," the Lord said. "Once again, I'm extremely grateful to all of you."

"I don't know what we'd do without you, Goemon," Princess Yuki added. "And of course, I can't forget Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae. Each of you plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of Japan, and we can't thank you enough."

"There must be something we can do to repay you for all you've done."

"I need no reward, Lord. Although..." Goemon's eyes shifted towards Yae. He nudged her softly.

"No, Goemon," she whispered to him.

"Yae, is there something you'd like to ask of me?" the Lord asked with his warm smile.

"Uh, no, sir. Nothing at all."

The Lord continued to stare at Yae, who just looked away nervously. Suddenly, the doors burst open and the kunoichi cringed as she heard a familiar and unmistakable voice. "My Lord, there's something I need to...Well, perhaps there will be no need to bother you after all, Lord. Hello, Miss Yae."

A visibly irritated Yae released a heavy sigh. "Hello, Master Hideyoshi."

"I see you insist on continuing to consort with this misguided vigilante."

Goemon knew Hideyoshi was referring to him, but restrained himself from leaping forward and squeezing the life out of this hideous rat. Goemon had never met him personally, but he could already see that Yae's descriptions of him were frighteningly accurate.

"And now, you face the consequences," the rat continued. "Come, you need to learn to use all the office equipment."

"Y-Yes, master," Yae said. Her posture was slumped, and a dejected frown was now painted on her face.

Goemon grabbed Yae's arm as she took a step towards the door. "Yae, don't let this guy push you around. It's not too late to fight against this."

"Yes, it is, Goemon. This was the only thing I could think about over the past three nights. I realized that there was no point in resisting, and there's nothing any of you could do to help me. It would be best if I just gave in."

"Listen to yourself, Yae. Do you really want to live the rest of your life as some miserable, hollow shell of a person? What kind of an existence is that? You deserve so much more! Think about the things you've accomplished as a ninja, and then think of what you would do as a secretary. Don't you think it's worth it to put up a fight for something that important? I'm certain of how the Yae I know would answer, but what do you really want?"

Yae flipped through the pages of her life's story. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reminisce for long about her life before she met Goemon without such memories being pushed aside by more recent thoughts of the various escapades she participated in with him and the others. She remembered following Bismaru into the future. She remembered going to Planet Impact, the giant robot's original home, to save it from Seppukumaru and the four Tsujigiri. She remembered going into outer space with the intent of stopping the pompous Spring Breeze Dancin' from turning Japan into a stage where he could put on his unusual musical. She remembered venturing into the Underworld to destroy the Wise Man's first ghost summoning machine so it couldn't be used to revive another monster as horrible as Dochuki.

And then her mind settled on the most recent quest. The Mt. Fuji fiasco. The conflict with her boss. The battle with Daichi. Finally, she came to Zazen Town, late at night, on the balcony connected to their lavish room. "_So, what's bothering you, Yae?...I think you'd be a lot happier in the long run if you're willing to open up and let others know how you're really feeling...What made you decide to come with us after all?...Just live for today. Live your life the way you want it. That is the destiny for many..._"

The inundation of thoughts from Yae's memory was interrupted by a growling voice. "You would listen to the mindless ravings of this fool? I would think you'd have more sense than that. Or, rather, I did until you defied my orders."

Yae's heart thumped furiously against her chest as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She swallowed hard as she forbade her eyes from shedding any more. This was no time for that. Now was the time to display true strength. "You're right. I'm not going to listen to the mindless ravings of a fool."

"Well, then come along. I'm growing impatient," Hideyoshi said, his voice becoming more threatening with each syllable he uttered.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not going to listen to the mindless ravings of a fool." Hideyoshi stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do I have to spell it out for you? To put it plainly, sir, I'm not going anywhere."

As expected, Hideyoshi's rage was practically pouring out of his ears. A vein in the upper right section of his temple began throbbing at an unhealthy rate. After several deep inhalations, each of which was paired with an extended exhalation, he had finally calmed down enough to speak again. "I'm sure I don't need to remind you of your lifelong commitment to this organization."

"Then I'll hide. If I could evade your grasp for this long, I can continue to do so. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to find me."

"On the contrary, I will make sure that every agent employed under me scours the entire world to find you. There will be no rest for any of them until they return with your head.

"I will ask nicely only one more time. Come with me. NOW! There's no point in resisting, and there's no escape for you!"

"Actually, there is one," the Lord interjected. "Remember that I, the Lord of Edo, have jurisdiction over everything in this fair town. That includes the SSIN. If you would so cruelly mistreat this agent, one of the most talented people to ever hold that title, then I'm afraid I will have no choice but to terminate her employment with the SSIN. All ties she has with the organization will be severed."

"You--You can't--I mean, you wouldn't--" Hideyoshi stammered.

Yae was also surprised by this, but not in a good way. "My Lord, with all due respect, perhaps that's not the best--"

"Silence, both of you! I will have to implement several changes in light of this situation.

"First, Yae will be transferred from the SSIN to this castle and become the leader of every guard posted here. If there is any indication that you or any SSIN employee is causing her harm, or intending to cause her harm, then it will be your head that will be sought out so fervently, Hideyoshi. Of course, she will be free to accompany Goemon any time she feels it will help Japan."

Hideyoshi fell to his knees and clasped his hands together. "Please...no. Y-You can't take her away from the SSIN," he whimpered. Yae was so used to seeing Hideyoshi act like an arrogant bastard, she couldn't help but snicker at this pathetic display. "Yae, please, I beg of you. Just come with me so we can forget this ugliness, this humiliating experience."

For the first time in three days, Yae felt like smiling. "Well, I don't know, the Lord has made a pretty nice offer. And he said that I have to severe all ties with the SSIN. But I suppose I could ask him to reverse his decision if you let me be an agent again, and only an agent. Why don't we forget all that ugliness instead? And of course, you have to apologize to Goemon and allow me to accompany him on all of his future journeys. You have to at least match the Lord there." By this time, a large grin was planted on Yae's face. She had no idea negotiating with her boss would be so much fun.

"What?! I have to apologize? To him?" Despite the playfulness in Yae's voice, Hideyoshi could see in her eyes that she was completely serious. As expected, this was the hardest term for him to agree to. "F-Fine. You can come back as an agent, and remain an agent for--"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that, either," the Lord interjected once again. Yae was quite annoyed with this interruption. She was extremely grateful the Lord had helped her gain leverage over her slimy boss the first time, but she couldn't believe he'd stop him when he was just about to give her exactly what she wanted. "At least, not under the current management."

"What?!" shouted both Yae and Hideyoshi at exactly the same time.

"The second change that will be implemented regarding the SSIN," the Lord continued, "is your demotion, Hideyoshi. I can't let such a talented young agent remain under the control of such an ineffective leader. It baffles me how you could view someone like Goemon in such a negative light, but now you must face the consequences of such thoughts. I think the SSIN needs a new janitor. Of course, before you accept your new position, you have to put yourself on good terms with Goemon, and stay there, on pain of exile. An apology, as Yae suggested, would be a good place to start. I'm sure Goemon would be willing to forgive you, but if one or both of you does not accept an apology as a suitable resolution, then you will have to find some other way to earn his goodwill. Perhaps a gift? Do you understand, Hideyoshi?" The former head of the SSIN was now crying into the floor, which contrasted with Yae's overwhelming glee. "I take it by your tears that you do.

"Now Yae. There is still the matter of your career. I'll give you two choices. You can either accept the position that I have offered you as head of the guard here, or you can go back to the SSIN, which will of course have a new leader. I believe it would be unwise to put you in charge because the number of opportunities for field work will be significantly reduced. Instead, you'll be the top agent in the organization. I'll even let you be in charge of delegating all missions of a more...supernatural nature. Either way, you will essentially be your own boss. The choice is yours."

"Wow...I--I don't know what to say. Thank you, my Lord," Yae said as she went into a low bow. "But if it's all right with you, I'd like to return to the SSIN. I did make a lifelong commitment, after all."

"Ha ha, of course. It shall be done. Yuki?"

"Yes, father?" The princess stepped forward at this sudden mention of her name.

"Yuki, I'd like you to make sure Hideyoshi does as I commanded and performs some action to promote goodwill between himself and Goemon. I must go to determine a suitable candidate to take over Hideyoshi's former position. Excuse me." The Lord didn't acknowledge the sniveling man on the floor as he left the throne room.

"See? I told you things would be okay for you in the end, Yae," Goemon said.

"I never imagined the Lord would go to such great lengths to help you, Yae," said Sasuke. "But it is fortunate for you that he did."

"_Yeah, it is fortunate,_" Goemon thought to himself. "_But I knew he would. I'm glad this meeting ended just as I had hoped, Yae._"

Goemon's thoughts were interrupted when Ebisumaru whispered to him excitedly. "So, Goemon, you're not going to accept just an apology, are you? Come on, I'm sure we can get something really good from this guy!"

"Hmm..." Goemon placed his hand under his chin in deep thought. "I've got it!"

---

The following night, everybody gathered in Iga. Goemon knew the Wise Man would be more open to the idea of having a party after learning what he had demanded of the former SSIN leader.

"I still can't believe Hideyoshi gave us all this food," Yae said before biting into a cookie. "And alcohol. So much alcohol."

"Oh, this, this is nothing, um...Yae." The Wise Man stumbled up to Yae. Whereas she was still sipping at the contents of her first glass, the Wise Man had single-handedly finished an entire bottle of nihonshu in about ten minutes. "Why, when I was yer age, I, I used to drink, umm..." The Wise Man mumbled as he counted slowly on his fingers. He put up four fingers on his free hand and held up two fingers on the hand holding his glass, which tipped suddenly and forced a good portion of his drink to spill on the floor. "...this many glasses of rice wine a night. Those were good times, heh heh heh." The Wise Man chuckled before moving his hand up and towards Yae. "Mmm...yer so pretty..."

Yae grabbed the Wise Man's wrist and squeezed it tightly. "Don't even think about it, old man." She released his hand and threw it down to his side.

The Wise Man released a few more chuckles and pointed at Yae. "Feisty. Just how I like 'em." He clawed clumsily at the air and made a slurred growling sound before putting the glass up to his mouth and turning it nearly upside down. Most of the remaining sake flowed down his cheeks and ended up getting stuck in his beard. The Wise Man belched loudly before examining the inside of his glass. "Huh. Looks like I need su'more already." The Wise Man hiccuped and moved to another table, where several bottles of various kinds of alcohol rested in a bucket of ice.

Ebisumaru, Sasuke and Yae watched from afar as the Wise Man struggled to remove a cork from one bottle. "Well, you've gotta admit it's kinda funny," Ebisumaru said.

"Sasuke, don't you think you should stop him before he gets hurt?" Yae asked. "By me, in particular."

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not detecting a dangerous level of alcohol in his body yet. The Wise Man must have developed quite a tolerance when he was younger." He took a sip from his cup. Unlike the others, Sasuke had opted for green tea instead of sake, and had once again demonstrated his naiveté.

The Wise Man, meanwhile, had ripped the stubborn cork out with his teeth. Some of the foamy liquid shot up slightly and dripped over the rim. "Hey, do you know what we need now?" the Wise Man asked, hardly able to contain his excitement. "We need a toast. Yeah, a toast fer the ninjas that once again saved this place from de-destruction! Where's Goemon?"

"You know, that's a really good question," Yae said while looking around. "Where did Goemon and Omitsu run off to?"

---

Omitsu held her glass perfectly still under the opening of the bottle and smiled as she watched the colorless liquid pour out of it. "Okay, that's fine," she said just before the bubbles reached the rim of the glass. She watched Goemon pour some into his own glass with great interest.

Goemon placed the bottle to the side and stared affectionately at Omitsu. "Cheers." The rims of the two cups tapped lightly against each other and made a small clinking sound. Both Goemon and Omitsu took a sip of their drinks and sighed as they looked up at the night sky. "Well, it's no Kai Highway, but it's still nice isn't it?"

The light of the full moon shone down on the couple as they relaxed on a hill just a short distance from the Wise Man's home. The stars also seemed to be smiling down on them, as the few that were present glistened brightly against the pitch black backdrop.

Omitsu leaned towards Goemon, who placed his arm gently around her shoulders after moving the glass to his other hand. "I think the company is what makes it great. So, both Iga and Kai are perfect in my mind," she said.

"True. I could be happy anywhere as long as you're here with me."

"But are you sure you don't want to be down there with the others? I, um, I just needed a minute away from all the excitement...I didn't mean to drag you here with me."

"Omitsu, there's no one I'd rather spend my time with. There's no need to apologize for anything right now. Not for tonight, and definitely not for before."

Omitsu bit her lower lip. The time of her possession was a subject she didn't particularly enjoy talking about. When she had recovered enough of her strength, she spent most of her time apologizing profusely to Goemon for hurting him and the other ninjas. However, when asked by Goemon or Ebisumaru about her experience as a host for Makurayami, she would start crying before she said anything particularly interesting.

"It's over now, and what's done is done," Goemon continued. "I don't blame you for needing some room to breathe, and I certainly can't be upset at you for something you did when you weren't even in control of your actions. So, I--"

"Goemon, can we please talk about something else?" Goemon felt Omitsu shake from head to toe, for no more than a second, under his grasp.

Goemon gulped down a bit of the sparkling liquid. "Of course we can. I was just going to say I'm willing to drop the subject and never bring it up again if you are. No more apologizing for this, okay?" There was a pause. "I'll love you no matter what happens or what you do to me." Omitsu looked up quizzically at the man she adored. "The real you, I mean. Because I know that you would never do anything to intentionally hurt me or any of us."

Omitsu straightened up to give Goemon an affectionate peck on the cheek. "All right, it's a deal. But I can't help it, I missed all of you so much, and when I finally did see you again, I just ended up--"

"Shh, what did I just say?"

"Oh, right. Well, why don't I just say 'I love you' and leave it at that?"

Goemon smiled and nodded. Neither person spoke for some time, though Omitsu finally sipped at her drink again. Eventually, Goemon broke the silence. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Didn't you just say you were going to tell me something?"

Omitsu smiled deviously. "Well, now I'm not so sure. I'm not feeling as generous as I did a minute ago. You've gotta earn it now, Goemon."

Goemon sighed before bringing his head closer to Omitsu. His beloved girlfriend also moved closer to him, drawn to him like a moth to the flame. Their eyes were closed, their mouths opened slightly as they slowly drew closer, close enough to feel the other person's warm breath on their faces. Their lips were now nearly touching.

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Goemon's and Omitsu's eyes shot wide open, and they both remained completely motionless at the sound of this new voice. "Yae?! Couldn't you wait another two seconds?!" Goemon whined.

"Sorry, Goemon. But the Wise Man looks like he's about to pass out, so I think it's time to bring this party to a close. Come on, we're gonna take a quick picture, and then you two can go home to do whatever it was you planned to do up here." Goemon's back was turned to Yae, but he could hear her and Ebisumaru giggling as they walked back to the Wise Man's house.

Goemon gulped the rest of his drink down and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, to which Omitsu clicked her tongue disapprovingly. He picked up the bottle and sighed heavily. "Why do I always get interrupted when I'm about to do something important?"

Omitsu scoffed, but later shook her head and smiled as she linked arms with Goemon. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering in his ear, "I love you, Goemon."

---

Goemon, Ebisumaru, Yae, and Omitsu stood patiently in front of the back wall of the Wise Man's house, while Sasuke helped a heavily inebriated, but still unbelievably stubborn, Wise Man set up the tripod and the camera.

"Okay, Sasuke, now how do you set the time...thing?" the Wise Man asked as he swayed unsteadily on his feet.

"It's this button here, sir."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's this one. This big white one here." The Wise Man held the big white button on the camera down for a second, which resulted in a bright flash that took the four people standing in front of it by surprise. "Oh, does that mean we're finished already? Was I even in the stupid thing? I can't remember..."

"You weren't, sir. You just took a picture of those four. Here, this button here will set the timer. No, not that one. I'll do it. No, it's okay, I'll do it. Now then, I think ten...err, no, better make it thirty. Thirty seconds should be sufficient. Come on, Wise Man, let's go join the others." Sasuke grabbed the Wise Man's arm and helped him hobble over to the four other subjects waiting to get their picture taken.

"Finally. Another one to add to the collection," Yae said quietly. 

"Huh? Collection? What collection?" Goemon asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, Goemon." Yae's eyes wandered to one of the nearby mountains, where she noticed something strange. It was a figure, looking down at the group from its position on a jutting plateau. It seemed normal enough, except for what looked like...

"A tail? Could it be? Is that...Suzaku?" Yae mumbled.

"Suzaku?" the Wise Man shouted suddenly. "Where? The more cuties the better! Whoa!"

"Wise Man, be careful!" Sasuke yelled.

And that's when the bright white light came from the camera.

---

Yae smiled as she looked at the two newest additions to her photo album. She had managed to fit two pictures on one page. The first featured Goemon, Ebisumaru, Omitsu, and herself, all caught off guard as a drunk Wise Man accidentally took a candid photograph of them. The second still had the four from the first picture standing, most of them with expressions of shock on their faces, while Sasuke was kneeling next to a groaning Wise Man, who had just tripped from excitement. After this photo was taken, every sober person present had agreed that it wouldn't be worth it to attempt one more picture, so they had parted ways for the evening. At the top of the page was the title "Celebrating Darkness's Defeat", underlined and written in a beautiful script.

The kunoichi sighed as she closed the book and slid it back into its place on the shelf. "_Until next time, when even more memories can be made. I can't wait to see what the future holds._"

"What the future holds..." she whispered to herself. Whatever waited for her, and for Goemon, Ebisumaru and Sasuke, she looked forward to the next great challenge. The four ninjas, the heroes of Japan, would patiently await its arrival and answer its call.

---

Author's notes: And there you have it. The (hopefully) final version of the first fanfic I was able to complete in over four years. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Feedback, of course, is still greatly appreciated. I will, eventually, be coming back to Goemon. I can't provide any kind of a guess as to when that will be, but hopefully it'll happen.

Thanks again for reading.


End file.
